Coelurosauria

Coelurosaurs; Temporal range: ; Middle Jurassic–Present, Possible Early Jurassic record
	Six exemplar coelurosaurs (top left to bottom right): Tyrannosaurus, Sinosauropteryx, Deinonychus, Archaeopteryx, "Ronaldoraptor", and a house sparrow
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Clade:	Avetheropoda
Clade:	; von Huene, 1914
Included taxa
Possible coelurosaurs
	†Aniksosaurus; †Asiamericana; †Chilantaisaurus; †Gasosaurus; †Gualicho; †Iliosuchus; †Juravenator; †Lourinhanosaurus; †Nqwebasaurus; †Nuthetes; †Phaedrolosaurus; †Richardoestesia; †Sciurumimus; †Shanyangosaurus; †Shaochilong; †Teinurosaurus; †Zuolong;

Coelurosauria (/sɪˌljʊərəˈsɔːri.ə/;^[3]^[4] from Greek, meaning "hollow-tailed lizards") is the clade containing all theropod dinosaurs more closely related to birds than to carnosaurs.

Coelurosauria is a subgroup of theropod dinosaurs that includes compsognathids, tyrannosauroids, ornithomimosaurs, maniraptorans, and over the recent years, megaraptorans (Although position within the clade is unclear). Maniraptora includes birds, the only known dinosaur group alive today.^[5] In the past, Coelurosauria was used to refer to all small theropods, but this classification has since been amended.

Most feathered dinosaurs discovered so far have been coelurosaurs. Philip J. Currie had considered it likely and probable that all coelurosaurs were feathered.^[6] However, several skin impressions found for some members of this group show pebbly, scaly skin, indicating that feathers did not completely replace scales in all taxa.

^ 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.
^ Barrett, P. M. (2009). "The affinities of the enigmatic dinosaur Eshanosaurus deguchiianus from the Early Jurassic of Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China". Palaeontology. 52 (4): 681−688. Bibcode:2009Palgy..52..681B. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2009.00887.x.
^ "coelurosaur". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-08-01.
^ "coelurosaur". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
^ Turner, A.H., Makovicky, P.J., and Norell, M.A. 2012. A review of dromaeosaurid systematics and paravian phylogeny. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 371: 1–206.
^ Currie (2005), p. 368.

[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] Barrett, P. M. (2009). "The affinities of the enigmatic dinosaur Eshanosaurus deguchiianus from the Early Jurassic of Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China". Palaeontology. 52 (4): 681−688. Bibcode:2009Palgy..52..681B. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2009.00887.x.

[3] "coelurosaur". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-08-01.

[4] "coelurosaur". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.

[5] Turner, A.H., Makovicky, P.J., and Norell, M.A. 2012. A review of dromaeosaurid systematics and paravian phylogeny. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 371: 1–206.

[FOOTNOTECurrie2005368-6] Currie (2005), p. 368.

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