Palaeos		Coelurosauria
Vertebrates		Classification

Coelurosauria: Classification

DINOSAURIA
|--ORNITHISCHIA
`--+--SAUROPODOMORPHA
   `--THEROPODA
      |
      `--COELUROSAURIA
         |--Tyrannosauroidea
         `--+--Ornithomimosauria
            `--+--Maniraptora
               |--Therizinosauroidea
               `--Metornithes
                  |--Alvarezsauridae
                  `--+--Oviraptorosauria
                     `-Paraves	
                        |--Deinonychosauria
                        |   |--Troodontidae
                        |   `--Dromaeosauridae
                        `--Avialae
                           |--Scansoriopterygidae
                           `--AVES

Suborder Coeluria (= Coelurosauria)

Traditional classification

As with other pages in this series, the current page is intended to provide an evolutionary-Linnaean rank-based taxonomy. But as one subgroup of Coelurosauria, the Manirapora especially, has always been defined and analysed cladistically, providing a linnaean interpretation invokes a somewhat retro feel, rather like the Steam Punk genre created by science fiction writers William Gibson and Bruce Stirling, in which in an alternative 19th century, computer programmers inserted punch cards in steam-powered babbage engines, and which has since developed into an entire literary artistic subculture fashion style and aesthetic. MAK120306 120506

Image: Datamancer's Steampunk laptop

Infraclass Archosauromorpha Huene, 1946 (cont.)
  Order[1] Theropoda Marsh, 1881 (cont.)
   Suborder[2] Coeluria Marsh, 1881 (= Coelurosauria Huene, 1914) mostly small lightly built forms, but also include two specialised lineages, the tyrannosaurs and ornithomimids, as well as the ancestors of birds, Mid Jur to End Cret
     Family Coeluridae Marsh, 1881 monotypal, includes only Coelurus fragilis, late Jur of Nth Am
     Family Compsognathidae Cope, 1871 small lightly built theropods, covered with protofeathers, rather similar to a flightless Archaeopteryx, Late Jur to Mid Cret. Irioonically these minature theropods are cloesley related to the largest of the coelurosaurs, the tyrannosaurids
      Dilong, Eotyrannus, Stokesosaurus, etc proto-tyrannosaurs or tyrannosaur ancestors, not assigned to family rank [3]
     Family Proceratosauridae Rauhut, Milner & Moore-Fay, 2010 primitive tyrannosaurs, including a range of crested forms - Mid Jur to Mid Cret of Laurasia
     Family Dryptosauridae Marsh, 1890 poorly known late Cret tyrannosaurids
     Family Tyrannosauridae Osborn, 1906 large to gigantic coelurosaurs known from Laurasia; advanced froms have diminutive forearms but powerfully built skulls and jaws
       Alectrosaurus and other genera (not assigned to subfamilies) primitive tyrannosaurs
      Subfamily Tyrannosaurinae advanced Tyrannosaurs
       Tribe Albertosaurini Currie, Hurum & Sabath, 2003 relatively lightly built (but still very large) tyrannosaurs, latest Cret of Nth Am
       Tribe Tyrannosaurini advanced, heavily built Tyrannosaurs, latest Cret of Asia & Nth Am
     Family Ornithomimidae Marsh, 1890 the ostrich dinosaurs or ostrich mimics, Mid to late Cret of Asia & Nth Am.
       Archaeornithomimus, Pelecanimimus, etc primitive ornithomids not assigned to a subfamily
      Subfamily Garudimiminae Barsbold, 1981 monotypal family (here, subfamily) for the genus Garudimimus, Mid Cret of Mongolia
      Subfamily Harpymiminae Barsbold & Perle, 1984 monotypal family (here, subfamily) for the genus Harpymimus Mid Cret of Mongolia
      Subfamily Ornithomiminae advanced ostrich dinosaurs
     Family Deinocheiridae Osmólska & Roniewics, 1970 monotypal family based on a single enigmatic pair of giant forearms, resembling ornithomid arms
     Family Ornitholestidae Paul, 1988 either a coelurosaur or a primitive maniraptoran
   Suborder[4] Protoavia Paul 1988 (= "non-avian" Maniraptora Gauthier, 1986)[5] - advanced, very bird-like theropods, alternatively, may be flightless dino-birds descended from Archaeopteryx-grade ancestors.
   Infraorder Therizinosauria
      incertae sedis: a number on unplaced genera, which could be placed in several monotypal or paraphyletic families: Falcarius, Beipiaosaurus, etc
    Family Alxasauridae Russell & Dong, 1995
    Family Therizinosauridae Maleev, 1954
   Infraorder "Alvarezsauria" - yes we know it only contains one family
    Family Alvarezsauridae Bonaparte, 1991 - bird-like, thumb-clawed, small coelurosaurs - Late Cret of EAs, Eur, NAm and SAm
      Subfamily Alvarezsaurinae
      Subfamily Patagonykinae
      Subfamily Mononykinae (= Parvicursorinae) - specialized alvarezsaurids with a pinched foot, Late Cret of EAs and NAm
   Infraorder Oviraptorosauria - bizarre, beaked, herbivorous or omnivorous coelurosaurs, Early to Late Cret of EAs and NAm
      incertae sedis: a number on unplaced genera, which could be placed in several monotypal, monophyletic or paraphyletic families or subfamilies: Caenagnathasia, Caenagnathus, Incisivosaurus, Protarchaeopteryx
    Family Caudipteridae
    Family Oviraptoridae
      Subfamily Oviraptorinae - More powerful arms, shorter stouter legs, Late Cret of EAs
      Subfamily Elmisaurinae - Shorter arms, longer legged oviraptors, Late Cret of EAs and NAm
      Subfamily Ingeniinae
    Family Oviraptoridae Barsbold, 1976
    Order Archaeopterygiformes (Class Aves) = Infraorder Deinonychosauria (Order Theropoda) [6]
    Family Troodontidae Gilmore, 1924
    Family Dromaeosauridae Matthew & Brown, 1922
      Subfamily Microraptorinae - small four-winged aboreal glidings forms
      Subfamily Unenlagiinae - long-snouted west gondwanan dromaeosaurs
      Subfamily Dromaeosaurinae - large and heavily built dromaeasaurs
      Subfamily Saurornitholestinae - similar to velociraprtorines
      Subfamily Velociraptorinae - classic dromaesaurs - Deinonychus, Velociraptor etc
   Infraorder or Order unspecified
     Family Scansoriopterygidae

Hybrid classification

This section is another of our now discontinued and impractical attempt to integrate the rank-based Linnaean and the phylogeny-based Cladistic systems of organising the nartural world. The following key is used:

• para- for a paraphyletic (an ancestral or evolutionary grade defined only by shared primitive features and lack of specialised features) according to consensus opinion
• holo- for holophyletic (=monophyletic)
• ambi- for when different cladistic analyses dissagree as to whether a taxon is paraphyletic or monophyletic
• mono- for a monotypal taxon
• evo- for when a taxon is considered monophyletic according to current consensus cladistic studies, but morphologically and/or stratigraphically intermediate and so considered to have given rise to other taxa according to evolutionary systematics or a general gradistic perspective (which implies reversals (loss of original synapomorphies) and a non-parsimony-based phylogeny)

For more on this (and the original reason behind these pages), see the Theropoda - Classification MAK120306 120312

Parainfraclass Archosauromorpha Huene, 1946 (cont.)
  Paraorder Theropoda Marsh, 1881 (cont.)
   Parasuborder Coeluria Marsh, 1881 (= Coelurosauria Huene, 1914) mostly small lightly built forms, but also include two specialised lineages, the tyrannosaurs and ornithomimids, as well as the ancestors of birds, Mid Jur to End Cret
     Monofamily Coeluridae Marsh, 1881 monotypal, includes only Coelurus fragilis, late Jur of Nth Am
     Ambifamily Compsognathidae Cope, 1871 small lightly built theropods, covered with protofeathers, rather similar to a flightless Archaeopteryx, Late Jur to Mid Cret. Irioonically these minature theropods are cloesley related to the largest of the coelurosaurs, the tyrannosaurids
      Dilong, Eotyrannus, Stokesosaurus, etc proto-tyrannosaurs and tyrannosaur ancestors
     Evofamily Proceratosauridae Rauhut, Milner & Moore-Fay, 2010 primitive tyrannosaurs, including a range of crested forms - Mid Jur to Mid Cret of Laurasia
     Holofamily Dryptosauridae Marsh, 1890 poorly known late Cret tyrannosaurids
     Holofamily Tyrannosauridae Osborn, 1906 large to gigantic coelurosaurs known from Laurasia; advanced froms have diminutive forearms but powerfully built skulls and jaws
       Alectrosaurus and other genera (not assigned to subfamilies) primitive tyrannosaurs
      Holosubfamily Tyrannosaurinae advanced Tyrannosaurs
       Holotribe Albertosaurini Currie, Hurum & Sabath, 2003 relatively lightly built (but still very large) tyrannosaurs, latest Cret of Nth Am
       Holotribe Tyrannosaurini advanced, heavily built Tyrannosaurs, latest Cret of Asia & Nth Am
     Holofamily Ornithomimidae Marsh, 1890 the ostrich dinosaurs or ostrich mimics, Mid to late Cret of Asia & Nth Am.
       Archaeornithomimus, Pelecanimimus, etc primitive ornithomids not assigned to a subfamily
      Monosubfamily Garudimiminae Barsbold, 1981 monotypal family (here, subfamily) for the genus Garudimimus, Mid Cret of Mongolia
      Monosubfamily Harpymiminae Barsbold & Perle, 1984 monotypal family (here, subfamily) for the genus Harpymimus Mid Cret of Mongolia
      Holosubfamily Ornithomiminae advanced ostrich dinosaurs
     Holofamily Deinocheiridae Osmólska & Roniewics, 1970 monotypal family based on a single enigmatic pair of giant forearms, resembling ornithomid arms
     Monofamily Ornitholestidae Paul, 1988 either a coelurosaur or a primitive maniraptoran
   Suborder Protoavia Paul 1988 (= "non-avian" Maniraptora Gauthier, 1986) - advanced, very bird-like theropods, alternatively, may be flightless dino-birds descended from Archaeopteryx-grade ancestors.
   Holoinfraorder Therizinosauria
      incertae sedis: a number on unplaced genera, which could be placed in several monotypal or paraphyletic families: Falcarius, Beipiaosaurus, etc
    Monofamily Alxasauridae Russell & Dong, 1995
    Holofamily Therizinosauridae Maleev, 1954
   Monoinfraorder "Alvarezsauria" - yes we know it only contains one family
    Holofamily Alvarezsauridae Bonaparte, 1991 - bird-like, thumb-clawed, small coelurosaurs - Late Cret of EAs, Eur, NAm and SAm
      Monosubfamily Alvarezsaurinae
      Parasubfamily Patagonykinae
      Holosubfamily Mononykinae (= Parvicursorinae) - specialized alvarezsaurids with a pinched foot, Late Cret of EAs and NAm
   Holoinfraorder Oviraptorosauria - bizarre, beaked, herbivorous or omnivorous coelurosaurs, Early to Late Cret of EAs and NAm
      incertae sedis: a number on unplaced genera, which could be placed in several monotypal, monophyletic or paraphyletic families or subfamilies: Caenagnathasia, Caenagnathus, Incisivosaurus, Protarchaeopteryx
    Monofamily Caudipteridae
    Holofamily Oviraptoridae
      Ambisubfamily Oviraptorinae - More powerful arms, shorter stouter legs, Late Cret of EAs
      Ambisubfamily Elmisaurinae - Shorter arms, longer legged oviraptors, Late Cret of EAs and NAm
      Holosubfamily Ingeniinae
    Family Oviraptoridae Barsbold, 1976
    Paraorder Archaeopterygiformes (Class Aves) = Infraorder Deinonychosauria (Order Theropoda)
    Evofamily Troodontidae Gilmore, 1924
    Holofamily Dromaeosauridae Matthew & Brown, 1922
      Evosubfamily Microraptorinae - small four-winged aboreal glidings forms
      Holosubfamily Unenlagiinae - long-snouted west gondwanan dromaeosaurs
      Parasubfamily Dromaeosaurinae - large and heavily built dromaeasaurs
      Evosubfamily Saurornitholestinae - similar to velociraprtorines
      Holosubfamily Velociraptorinae - classic dromaesaurs - Deinonychus, Velociraptor etc
   Infraorder or Order unspecified
    Holo? or Evo? Family Scansoriopterygidae

Notes

[1]Theropoda is conventially paced as a suborder of Order Saurischia Seeley, 1887. But since the three dinosaurian groups (Theropoda, Sauropodomorpha, and Ornithischia) all diverged at the same time and remained consistently distinct and diverse lineages, we felt that Theropoda should be promoted to Ordinal status

[2] With Theropoda becoming an order, previous infraorders now become suborders.

[3] Only a few taxa are listed here. The Tyrannosaurs include not only the familiar T. rex and similar species, but also a diverse range of Mid Jurasisc through to Mid Cret forms with more conventional theropod or coelurosaur proportions; because this new research into the evolutionary relationships of Tyrannosaurs uses rank-free cladistic analysis, no linnaean supra-generic taxa have been erected for them in most of the published literature.

[4] Suborder has been chosen as the linnaean rank for Protoaves, in keeping with the rest of the theropod classification. This would represent a more advanced (bird-like) taxon than Coeluria. Alternatively, a fully ordinal rank could be used, either within superorder Dinosauria or in Class Aves. The latter option would apply especially if Greg Paul's Neoflightless theropod hypothesis were to be accepted..

[5] Maniraptora includes not only bird-like dinosaurs birds as well, so strictly speaking it should only be used in a monophyletic context. But as Although phylogenetic nomenclature (confusingly) uses the same names as Linanean/evolutionary nomenclature, but in a different context (only allowing monophyletic taxa, emphasising extant crown group definitions etc) we could strictly speaking go the other way and borrow a monophyletic term for a non-cladistic paraphyletic definition. Greg Paul's almost identical term, coined two years later, has the advantage of being Linnaean from the start. Unfortunately Paul's terms have no official nomenclatural standing, as they are not acconpanied by formal descriptions. That doesn't matter though, because the present page, and for that matter the whole of palaeos, is informal as well (which is half the fun!).

[6] In traditional Linnaean classification, the extant birds (Class Aves) are divided into a whopping thirty or so extant orders. The unusally high ranking reflects the influence of ornithologists in 19th century natural history; as Romer somewhere points out, were this any other group they would probably be considered families (or today, given the current tendency to taxonomic inflation, superfamilies). We have here followed Greg Paul (1988) in grouping Archaeopteryx with the deinonychosaurs; in Paul's evolutionary systematic approach, Deinonychosauria would becomes a junior synonym for a paraphyletic Archaeopterygiformes. MAK120306