what are dinosaurs closest living relatives

Introduction

The question of which living organisms are the closest relatives to dinosaurs has intrigued scientists for decades. This topic is crucial for understanding the evolutionary lineage and the transition from ancient reptiles to modern species.

Key Insights

Birds as Closest Relatives:
- Many paleontologists consider dromaeosaurs, a group of feathered dinosaurs, to be the closest dinosaurian relatives of birds. This is supported by the discovery of Microraptor, a small, feathered dinosaur that shares many characteristics with birds.
- Maniraptora, a clade that includes birds and their closest relatives among theropod dinosaurs, shows a variety of features that are shared with modern birds, indicating a close evolutionary relationship.
Dinosauromorphs and Early Diversification:
- The discovery of lagerpetids, a group of non-dinosaurian dinosauromorphs, in Late Triassic deposits from Brazil, provides evidence that dinosaurs and their closest relatives coexisted for a significant period before the former's dominance. This suggests a gradual evolutionary transition from early dinosauromorphs to true dinosaurs.

Conclusion

The closest living relatives of dinosaurs are birds, specifically those within the clade Maniraptora, which includes both modern birds and their closest theropod dinosaur relatives. Fossil evidence, such as that of Microraptor and other maniraptorans, supports this close evolutionary relationship. Additionally, the coexistence of early dinosauromorphs and true dinosaurs in the Late Triassic period highlights the gradual evolutionary transition leading to the rise of dinosaurs.

What are dinosaurs closest living relatives

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Tunicates and not cephalochordates are the closest living relatives of vertebrates

Tunicates, not cephalochordates, are the closest living relatives of vertebrates, redefining the origins of chordate animals and influencing the interpretation of developmental and genomic studies.

Molecular and Genomic Data Identify the Closest Living Relative of Primates

Colugos are the closest living relatives of primates, with their divergence occurring in the Cretaceous period.

Tiny, Feathered Dino Is Most Birdlike Yet

Microraptor is the smallest and most birdlike dinosaur yet discovered, belonging to the dromaeosaurs, which are considered the closest dinosaurian relatives of birds.

Synchrotron scanning reveals amphibious ecomorphology in a new clade of bird-like dinosaurs

Halszkaraptor escuilliei, a new clade of bird-like dinosaurs, exhibits amphibious ecomorphology, convergent with short-tailed birds, and shows neck hyperelongation for food procurement.

The oldest known co-occurrence of dinosaurs and their closest relatives: A new lagerpetid from a Carnian (Upper Triassic) bed of Brazil with implications for dinosauromorph biostratigraphy, early diversification and biogeography

The new lagerpetid dinosauromorph from Brazil confirms the oldest known co-occurrence of dinosaurs and their closest relatives, reinforcing the idea that they coexisted for at least 21 million years before their extinction.

Dinosaur Monophyly and a New Class of Vertebrates

Dinosaurs are a single monophyletic group with high aerobic exercise metabolism, justifying a new class, Dinosauria, alongside birds and cursorial mammals.

A large, short-armed, winged dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of China and its implications for feather evolution

Zhenyuanlong suni is a new genus and species of large-bodied, short-armed dromaeosaurid from the Early Cretaceous of China, providing new insights into feather evolution and dromaeosaurid phylogeny.

Nuclear protein-coding genes support lungfish and not the coelacanth as the closest living relatives of land vertebrates.

Lungfishes are the closest living relatives of land vertebrates, with high bootstrap values, Bayesian posterior probabilities, and likelihood ratio tests supporting this conclusion.

Osteohistology of the silesaurid Sacisaurus agudoensis from southern Brazil (Late Triassic) and implications for growth in early dinosaurs.

The Late Triassic silesaurid Sacisaurus agudoensis shows rapid growth in its limb bones, supporting the idea that rapid growth occurred early in the dinosauromorph lineage.

The Anatomy of Asilisaurus kongwe, a Dinosauriform from the Lifua Member of the Manda Beds (~Middle Triassic) of Africa

This study provides the first complete anatomy of Asilisaurus kongwe, a dinosauriform from the Middle Triassic Manda Beds of Tanzania, revealing its unique skull and plesiomorphic features, suggesting high homoplasy and parallel trends within Silesauridae and early dinosaur lineages

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