Zhang Fucheng, Zhou Zhonghe, Xu Xing, Wang Xiaolin, Sullivan Corwin
Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, China.
Nature. 2008 Oct 23;455(7216):1105-8. doi: 10.1038/nature07447.
Recent coelurosaurian discoveries have greatly enriched our knowledge of the transition from dinosaurs to birds, but all reported taxa close to this transition are from relatively well known coelurosaurian groups. Here we report a new basal avialan, Epidexipteryx hui gen. et sp. nov., from the Middle to Late Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. This new species is characterized by an unexpected combination of characters seen in several different theropod groups, particularly the Oviraptorosauria. Phylogenetic analysis shows it to be the sister taxon to Epidendrosaurus, forming a new clade at the base of Avialae. Epidexipteryx also possesses two pairs of elongate ribbon-like tail feathers, and its limbs lack contour feathers for flight. This finding shows that a member of the avialan lineage experimented with integumentary ornamentation as early as the Middle to Late Jurassic, and provides further evidence relating to this aspect of the transition from non-avian theropods to birds.
近期的虚骨龙类发现极大地丰富了我们对于从恐龙到鸟类演化过渡的认识，但所有已报道的接近这一过渡阶段的分类单元都来自相对知名的虚骨龙类群。在此，我们报道一种来自中国内蒙古中侏罗世至晚侏罗世的新的基干鸟翼类，胡氏耀龙（Epidexipteryx hui），新属新种。这个新物种具有在几个不同兽脚类类群中出现的特征的意外组合，尤其是窃蛋龙类。系统发育分析表明它是树息龙的姐妹分类单元，在鸟翼类基部形成一个新的分支。耀龙还拥有两对细长的带状尾羽，并且其肢体缺少用于飞行的廓羽。这一发现表明鸟翼类谱系的一个成员早在中侏罗世至晚侏罗世就开始尝试体表装饰，并且为从非鸟恐龙到鸟类过渡的这一方面提供了更多证据。
