compsognathids

Furthermore, probable ‘proto-feathers’ (rather simple quill-like integumentary structures, almost certainly the morphological ancestors of true, complex feathers) were present in compsognathids, basal tyrannosauroids and alvarezsaurids.

The war on parasites: an oviraptorosaur’s eye view Darren Naish 2006

Furthermore, probable ‘proto-feathers’ (rather simple quill-like integumentary structures, almost certainly the morphological ancestors of true, complex feathers) were present in compsognathids, basal tyrannosauroids and alvarezsaurids.

Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006

We now know that primitive tyrannosaurs and compsognathids had a covering of these structures.

Happy Christmas, from gigantic Spanish sauropods... or, alas, poor ‘Angloposeidon’ Darren Naish 2006

So we can now doubt that those ‘compsognathids’ known only from pelvic material really truly are compsognathids.

Archive 2006-06-01 Darren Naish 2006

If so-called compsognathids – all of them relatively small, ecologically and morphologically generalized, long-limbed, long-tailed theropods that hunt small vertebrate prey – are not a clade but are actually scattered about the base of the coelurosaur family tree, this likely indicates that this ecotype was the ancestral one for coelurosaurs.

Archive 2006-06-01 Darren Naish 2006

Furthermore, other supposed compsognathids did not group with Compsognathidae proper.

Archive 2006-06-01 Darren Naish 2006

Namely, do all the other compsognathids really go together, or is Compsognathidae as currently perceived actually an artificial assemblage of distantly related (yet superficially similar) theropods?

Archive 2006-06-01 Darren Naish 2006

Nick thinks that some so-called compsognathids are basal maniraptorans, and that others aren’t even coelurosaurs, but to date he’s only published an abstract on this (and to see why this is interesting and important you’ll have to wait until yet another future post.

Archive 2006-06-01 Darren Naish 2006

There are indications that ‘compsognathids’ could make a living just about anywhere (for reasons that, again, I’ll have to cover in another post), and if this is valid then again we have another really interesting discovery about evolution at the base of Coelurosauria.

Archive 2006-06-01 Darren Naish 2006