Beipiaognathus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 125-121 Ma |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Order: | Saurischia |
Suborder: | Theropoda |
Family: | †Compsognathidae |
Genus: |
†Beipiaognathus Hu et al., 2016 |
Species: | †B. jii |
Binomial name | |
Beipiaognathus jii Hu et al., 2016 |
Beipiaognathus (meaning Beipiao jaw) is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China.
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. 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.
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.