| Bepiaognathus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Skeletal restoration based off Sinocalliopteryx | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Infraorder: | Coelurosauria |
| Family: | †Compsognathidae |
| Genus: | †Beipaognathus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Bepiaognathus jii Hu et al, 2016 | |
Beipiaognathus (meaning Beipiao jaw) is a dubious genus of coelurosaurian theropod from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China.[1]
The genus was initially assigned to the Compsognathidae based on the presence of two traits: fan-shaped dorsal neural spines and a robust I-1 phalanx on the hand.[1] However, it also differs from other compsognathids in several ways: the teeth are unserrated and conical; the ulna is proportionally longer; the II-1 phalanx on the hand is longer and more robust; and the tail is much shorter.[1]
However, Andrea Cau has informally noted a number of points in the fossil that are indicative of it having been artificially assembled, thus rendering the specimen a phylogenetically uninformative chimaera.[2] In one case, there has been reportedly found a coracoid in the tail. Maybe that was the way it died, or it belonged to another dinosaur.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 (2016) "A new species of compsognathid from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Western Liaoning, China.". Journal of Geology 40: 191–196.
- ↑ Cau, A (2016). Lo status (pale)ontologico di Beipiaognathus (in Italian) Theropoda.