What is the closest thing to a dinosaur
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Closest Relatives to Dinosaurs: Insights from Asilisaurus kongwe and Dromaeosaurids
Dinosauriforms: Asilisaurus kongwe
Asilisaurus kongwe is a significant dinosauriform from the Middle Triassic period, providing crucial insights into the anatomy and evolutionary relationships of early dinosaur relatives. Found in the Manda Beds of Tanzania, Asilisaurus kongwe is known from numerous well-preserved skeletal elements, including parts of the skull, limbs, and vertebral column. This detailed anatomical information reveals that Asilisaurus kongwe had a unique combination of features, such as a short skull with edentulous margins and a crocodylian-like ankle configuration, which are plesiomorphic traits for Archosauria.
Interestingly, the anatomical characteristics of Asilisaurus kongwe suggest it is more closely related to Silesaurus opolensis than to true dinosaurs, indicating significant homoplasy and parallel evolutionary trends within the Silesauridae family and early dinosaur lineages. This highlights the complexity of character evolution among early avemetatarsalians and underscores the importance of detailed descriptions of early dinosauriforms to understand the origins and relationships of dinosaurs.
Feathered Dromaeosaurids: Zhenyuanlong suni
Dromaeosaurids, particularly those from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning Province, China, are among the closest relatives to modern birds. These feathered dinosaurs, such as the newly described Zhenyuanlong suni, provide critical evidence for the evolution of feathers and flight-related adaptations. Zhenyuanlong suni, a large-bodied and short-armed dromaeosaurid, is notable for its well-preserved integument, which includes large pennaceous feathers on the arms and tail. This discovery is significant as it demonstrates that even non-volant dromaeosaurids had complex feather structures similar to their smaller, volant relatives.
The presence of such feather morphologies in Zhenyuanlong suni adds to the diversity of the Liaoning dromaeosaurid fauna and suggests that these taxa may not form a single clade, further complicating the phylogeny of dromaeosaurids. This finding underscores the evolutionary experimentation with feather structures and functions among early theropods, which eventually led to the emergence of birds.
Conclusion
The closest relatives to dinosaurs, such as Asilisaurus kongwe and various dromaeosaurids like Zhenyuanlong suni, provide invaluable insights into the evolutionary pathways that led to the rise of true dinosaurs and modern birds. Asilisaurus kongwe, with its unique anatomical features, highlights the complex evolutionary history of early dinosauriforms, while the feathered dromaeosaurids from Liaoning reveal the intricate evolution of feathers and flight adaptations. These discoveries underscore the importance of detailed fossil records in unraveling the evolutionary history of dinosaurs and their closest relatives.
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