Pygostyle-like Structure from Beipiaosaurus(Theropoda,Therizinosauroidea)from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning,China  

作　　者：XUXing CHENGYennien WANGXiaolin CHANGChunhsiang 

机构地区：[1]InstituteofVertebratePaleontologyandPaleoanthropology,ChineseAcademyofSciences,Beifing100044,China [2]DivisionofGeology,NationalMuseumofNaturalScience,Taichung,China

出　　处：《Acta Geologica Sinica(English Edition)》2003年第3期294-298,共5页地质学报（英文版）

基　　金：supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.40125006);the Special Funds for Major State Basic Research Projects of China(No.G2000077700);the Chinese Academy of Sciences(No.KZCX3-J-03).

摘　　要：Pygostyle was previously considered as a unique structure of ornithothoracine birds, used to maneuver tail feathers. A similar structure from an oviraptorosaurian dinosaur was considered functionally associated with the rectrices as in birds. We report a pygostyle-like structure from a therizinosauroid dinosaur. The presence of filamentous integuments, but absence of rectrices, on the tail of this therizinosauroid, combined with other lines of evidence, suggests that the initial function of the pygostyle was not related to the rectrices.Pygostyle was previously considered as a unique structure of ornithothoracine birds, used to maneuver tail feathers. A similar structure from an oviraptorosaurian dinosaur was considered functionally associated with the rectrices as in birds. We report a pygostyle-like structure from a therizinosauroid dinosaur. The presence of filamentous integuments, but absence of rectrices, on the tail of this therizinosauroid, combined with other lines of evidence, suggests that the initial function of the pygostyle was not related to the rectrices.

关 键 词：pygostyle-like structure Therizinosauroidea Yixian Formation western Liaoning China 

分 类 号：Q915.864[天文地球—古生物学与地层学] Q915.653[生物学—古生物学]