Paraves

Not to be confused with Panaves.

Paravians
Temporal range:
Middle Jurassic–Present, 165–0 Ma[1]
Six paravian dinosaurs (top left to bottom right): Confuciusornis, Dromaeosaurus, Microraptor, Anchiornis, a crow, and the Prince Creek troodontid
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Pennaraptora
Clade: Paraves
Sereno, 1997
Subgroups
Synonyms
Birds, members of the paraves, are the only living dinosaurs.

Paraves are a widespread group of theropod dinosaurs that originated in the Middle Jurassic period. In addition to the extinct dromaeosaurids, troodontids, anchiornithids, and possibly the scansoriopterygids, the group also contains the avialans, which include diverse extinct taxa as well as the over 10,000 species of living birds.[2]

Basal members of Paraves are well known for the possession of an enlarged claw on the second digit of the foot, which was held off the ground when walking in some species.[3] A number of differing scientific interpretations of the relationships between paravian taxa exist. New fossil discoveries and analyses make the classification of Paraves an active subject of research.[4]

  1. ^ Zhang, H.; Wang, M.; Liu, X. (2008). "Constraints on the upper boundary age of the Tiaojishan Formation volcanic rocks in West Liaoning-North Hebei by LA-ICP-MS dating". Chinese Science Bulletin. 53 (22): 3574–3584. Bibcode:2008SciBu..53.3574Z. doi:10.1007/s11434-008-0287-4.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference TurneretalBAMNH was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lietal2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Agnolin, Federico L.; Motta, Matias J.; Brissón Egli, Federico; Lo Coco, Gastón; Novas, Fernando E. (2019-02-12). "Paravian Phylogeny and the Dinosaur-Bird Transition: An Overview". Frontiers in Earth Science. 6. doi:10.3389/feart.2018.00252. hdl:11336/130197. ISSN 2296-6463.