Abstract
THE origin of birds from theropod dinosaurs1 is now broadly accepted, but there is little agreement as to which group of theropods is closest to avian ancestry2. Here we report the discovery of a fragmentary skull in a collection of Late Cretaceous verte-brates from Mongolia. The skull presents a novel combination of theropod and primitive avian characters, which suggests that it belongs to the closest of the known non-avian relatives of Archaeopteryx and other birds. The new fossil shows consistent similarities to the troodontid theropods, for whom close avian relationships have been proposed3, and to Baryonyx4 and Spinosaurus5, two unusual theropods from the Lower Cretaceous of England and the lowermost Upper Cretaceous of Africa, respec-tively.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ostrom, J. H. A. Rev. Earth planet Sci. 3, 55–77 (1975).
Witmer, L. M. in Origins of the Higher Groups of Tetrapods (eds Schultze. H.-P. & Trueb, L.) 427–466 (Comstock, Ithaca/London, 1991).
Currie, P. J. J. vert. Paleont. 7, 72–81 (1987).
Charig, A. J. & Milner, A. C. in Dinosaur Systematics (eds Carpenter, K & Currie. P. J) 127–140 (Cambridge University Press, UK, 1990).
Stromer, E. Abhandl. König. Bayer. Akad. Wissensch., Math.-Phys. Kl. 28, 1–32 (1915).
Osmolska, H. Mem. Soc. geol. France, N.S. 139, 145–150 (1980).
Ostrom, J. H. in The Dinosauria (eds Weishampel, D. B., Dodson, P. & Osmolska, H.) 269–279 (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1990).
Russell, D. A. Natn. Mus. Natur. Sci. Publ. Palaeont. 1, 1–34 (1970).
Madsen, J. H. Jr Utah Geol. Min. Surv. Bull. 109, 1–63 (1976).
Taquet, P. Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. Pairs 299, 217–218 (1984)
Currie, P. J., Rigby, J. K. Jr & Sloan, R. E. in Dinosaur Systematics (eds Carpenter, K. & Currie, P. J.) 107–125 (Cambridge University Press, UK, 1990).
Milner, A. R. & Evans, S. E. Palaeontology 34, 503–513 (1991).
Currie, P. J. Can. J. Earth Sci. 22, 1643–1658 (1985).
Wellnhofer, P. Palaeontographica A 147, 169–216 (1974).
Witmer, L. M. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 100, 327–378 (1990).
Elzanowski, A. Postilla 207, 1–20 (1991).
Welles, S. P. Palaeontographica A185, 85–180 (1984).
Gauthier, J. Mem. Calif. Acad. Sci. 8, 1–46 (1986).
Benton, M. J. in The Dinosauria (eds Weishampel, D. B., Dodson, P. & Osmolska, H.) 11–30 (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1990).
Buffetaut, E. Neues Jb. Geol Paläont. Monatshefte 88–96 (1992)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Elzanowski, A., Wellnhofer, P. A new link between theropods and birds from the Cretaceous of Mongolia. Nature 359, 821–823 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/359821a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/359821a0
This article is cited by
-
Reevaluation of the Dentary Structures of Caenagnathid Oviraptorosaurs (Dinosauria, Theropoda)
Scientific Reports (2018)
-
Flightless bird from the Cretaceous of Mongolia
Nature (1993)
-
Birdlike characters in the Triassic archosaurMegalancosaurus
Naturwissenschaften (1993)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
