View source for Jinfengopteryx

{{Short description|Theropod dinosaur genus}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [[Early Cretaceous]], {{fossil range|122}}
| image = Jinfengopteryx elegans 2.JPG
| image_caption = ''J. elegans'' fossil specimen
| taxon = Jinfengopteryx
| authority = Ji ''et al.'', [[2005 in paleontology|2005]]
| type_species = {{extinct}}'''''Jinfengopteryx elegans'''''
| type_species_authority = Ji ''et al.'', 2005
}}

'''''Jinfengopteryx''''' (from {{lang|zh-Latn|Jinfeng}}, 'golden phoenix', the queen of birds in Chinese folklore, and {{langx|grc|πτερυξ}} {{lang|el-Latn|pteryx}}, meaning 'feather') is a [[genus]] of [[maniraptora]]n [[dinosaur]]. It was found in the Qiaotou Member of the [[Huajiying Formation]] of [[Hebei]] [[Province (China)|Province]], [[China]], and is therefore of uncertain age. The Qiaotou Member may correlate with the more well-known [[Early Cretaceous]] [[Yixian Formation]], and so probably dates to around 122 Ma (122 million years) ago.<ref name=jinetal2008>{{cite journal|author1=Jin Fan|author2=Zhang FuCheng|author3=Li ZhiHeng|author4=Zhang JiangYong|author5=Li Chun|author6=Zhou ZhongHe|year=2008|title=On the horizon of ''Protopteryx'' and the early vertebrate fossil assemblages of the Jehol Biota|journal=Chinese Science Bulletin|volume=53|issue=18|pages=2820–2827|doi=10.1007/s11434-008-0209-5|bibcode=2008SciBu..53.2820J|doi-access=}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Jinfengopteryx Scale.svg|thumb|left|upright|Size compared with a [[human]]]]
''Jinfengopteryx'' is known from one specimen (number CAGS-IG-04-0801), a nearly complete articulated skeleton, which measured {{cvt|55|cm|ft|sigfig=2}} long. It was preserved with extensive impressions of [[Pennaceous feather|pennaceous feathers]], but it lacks [[Flight feather|flight feathers]] on its hind legs, which are present in related dinosaurs such as ''[[Pedopenna]]'' or ''[[Anchiornis]]''. It also preserves several small, oval structures that are reddish-yellow in color, possibly seeds that the dinosaur had eaten before it died; they may also be small eggs or developing follicles.{{Specify|reason=which meaning of follicle?|date=July 2020}}<ref name="Jietal05">{{cite journal|author1=Ji Qiang|author2=Ji Shu'an|author3=Lu Junchang|author4=You Hailu|author5=Chen Wen|author6=Liu Yongqing|author7=Liu Yanxue|year=2005|title=First avialian bird from China (''Jinfengopteryx elegans'' gen. et sp. nov.).|journal=Geological Bulletin of China|volume=24|issue=3|pages=197–205|url=http://caod.oriprobe.com/articles/8775970/First_avialian_bird_from_China_Jinfengopteryx_elegans_gen__et_sp__nov_.htm}}</ref>  If the oval structures are indeed seeds, they could indicate that ''Jinfengopteryx'' was an omnivore.<ref name="diet">{{cite journal|first1=Lindsay E.|last1=Zanno|first2=David D.|last2=Gillette|first3=L. Barry|last3=Albright|first4=Alan L.|last4=Titus|year=2009|title=A new North American therizinosaurid and the role of herbivory in 'predatory' dinosaur evolution|journal=Proc. R. Soc. B|volume=276|issue=1672|pages=3505–11|doi=10.1098/rspb.2009.1029|pmid=19605396|pmc=2817200}}</ref>

=== Feathers ===
''Jinfengopteryx'' preserves feather impressions "around the neck, the body, the hips, the upper hindlimbs, the tail, and near the [[manus (anatomy)|manus]]" (end of the front limbs).<ref name="Jietal05" /> The specimen shows short, simple feathers on its neck, body, hips, and upper legs. Also preserved are long, vaned tail feathers that become increasingly longer distally (away from the body).

=== Flight ===
A 2020 study on [[paravian]] flight capacities demonstrates that ''Jinfengopteryx'' matches closely with other flying non-avian [[Theropoda|theropods]] like ''[[Microraptor]]'' and ''[[Rahonavis]]''.<ref name=PoweredFlight>{{cite bioRxiv|title=Powered flight potential approached by wide range of close avian relatives but achieved selectively|last1=Pei|first1=R.|last2=Pittman|first2=M.|last3=Goloboff|first3=P. A.|last4=Dececchi|first4=T. A.|last5=Habib|first5=M. B.|last6=Kaye|first6=T. G.|last7=Larsson|first7=H. C. E.|last8=Norell|first8=M. A.|last9=Brusatte|first9=S. L.|last10=Xu|first10=X.|biorxiv=10.1101/2020.04.17.046169|date=2020-04-17}}</ref>

==Classification==
[[File:Jinfengopteryx wiki.jpg|thumb|230px|Artist's [[life restoration]]]] 
[[File:Jinfengopteryx elegans.jpg|thumb|Skeletal reconstruction]] 
The authors of the original description considered ''Jinfengopteryx'' to be the most [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] [[Avialae|avialan]] (bird), and a member of the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Archaeopterygidae]].<ref name="Jietal05"/> In a 2007 follow-up paper, they went on to compare ''Jinfengopteryx'' and ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'', still supporting its placement as an archaeopterygid, but providing no [[phylogenetic]] analysis.<ref name="ji&ji2007">Ji S., and Ji, Q. (2007). "''Jinfengopteryx'' compared to ''Archaeopteryx'', with comments on the mosaic evolution of long-tailed avialan birds." ''Acta Geologica Sinica'' (English Edition), '''81'''(3): 337-343.</ref> However, [[Luis Chiappe]] pointed out that ''Jinfengopteryx'' appears to have more in common with the [[Troodontidae|troodontids]], such as an enlarged claw on its short second toe, and that numerous scientists suspect it may belong to that group.<ref name="chiappe2007">Chiappe, L.M. ''Glorified Dinosaurs: The Origin and Early Evolution of Birds.'' Sydney: UNSW Press.</ref> In 2006, Xu and Norell also suggested that ''Jinfengopteryx'' was a troodontid, based on general body plan and features of the teeth.<ref name="xu&norell2006">Xu and Norell (2006). "Non-avian dinosaur fossils from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group of western Liaoning, China." ''Geological Journal'', '''41'''(3-4): 419-437.</ref> In a 2007 analysis of the relationships between troodontids, [[dromaeosaurids]], and early birds, Turner and colleagues did find ''Jinfengopteryx'' to be a troodontid, and referred it to that group, noting that it is the first troodontid specimen to preserve evidence of feathers.<ref name=AHTetal07>{{cite journal|last1=Turner|first1=Alan H.|last2=Pol|first2=Diego|last3=Clarke|first3=Julia A.|last4=Erickson|first4=Gregory M.|last5=Norell|first5=Mark|year=2007|title=A basal dromaeosaurid and size evolution preceding avian flight|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/317/5843/1378.pdf|journal=Science|volume=317|pages=1378–1381|doi=10.1126/science.1144066|pmid=17823350|issue=5843|bibcode=2007Sci...317.1378T|doi-access=free}}</ref> In 2012, Turner and colleagues erected a new [[subfamily]] called [[Jinfengopteryginae]]. The unique features of that subfamily include the large [[antorbital fenestrae]] and the [[wikt:bifurcated|bifurcated]] [[jugal]]. The specimen IGM 100/1126 (currently without an assigned genus) is the closest relative of ''Jinfengopteryx'' within the group.<ref name="turner">{{cite journal|last1=Turner|first1=Alan H.|last2=Makovicky|first2=Peter J.|last3=Norell|first3=Mark A.|year=2012|title=A review of dromaeosaurid systematics and paravian phylogeny|journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History|volume=317|pages=1–206|url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/handle/2246/6352/B371.pdf?sequence=1|format=pdf|doi=10.1206/748.1|hdl=2246/6352|s2cid=83572446|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

{{Cladogram|width=350|caption=[[Cladogram]] following the results of a phylogenetic study by Cau ''et al.'', 2015.<ref name=cauetal2015>{{cite journal|doi=10.7717/peerj.1032|pmid=26157616|pmc=4476167|title=The phylogenetic affinities of the bizarre Late Cretaceous Romanian theropod ''Balaur'' bondoc(Dinosauria, Maniraptora): Dromaeosaurid or flightless bird?|journal=PeerJ|volume=3|pages=e1032|year=2015|last1=Cau|first1=Andrea|last2=Brougham|first2=Tom|last3=Naish|first3=Darren |doi-access=free }}</ref>|clades=
{{clade|style=font-size:80%;line-height:80%
|1=[[Oviraptorosauria]]
|label2='''Paraves'''
|2={{clade
 |1={{extinct}}[[Scansoriopterygidae]]
 |2={{clade
   |1={{extinct}}''[[Eosinopteryx]]''
   |label2='''Eumaniraptora'''
   |2={{clade
    |1=†''Jinfengopteryx''
    |2=†''[[Aurornis]]''
    |3=†[[Dromaeosauridae]]
    |4=†[[Troodontidae]]
     |label5=[[Avialae]]
     |5={{clade
        |1=†''[[Anchiornis]]''
          |2={{clade
            |1=†''[[Archaeopteryx]]''
            |2=True birds and other avialans
}} }} }} }} }}  }} }}

==See also==
{{Portal|Dinosaurs}}
* [[Timeline of troodontid research]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|Jinfengopteryx}}
* [http://dml.cmnh.org/2005Mar/msg00372.html Discussion of the affinities of ''Jinfengopteryx''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106192923/http://dml.cmnh.org/2005Mar/msg00372.html |date=2008-01-06 }}, from the [http://dml.cmnh.org/ Dinosaur Mailing List].

{{Troodontidae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q132717}}

[[Category:Troodontidae]]
[[Category:Dinosaur genera]]
[[Category:Barremian dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Hailu You]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 2005]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs of China]]
[[Category:Feathered dinosaurs]]