Xunmenglong

Xunmenglong; Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Hauterivian; 130.7 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	Reconstructed skeleton
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Family:	†Compsognathidae
Genus:	†Xunmenglong; Xing et al., 2019
Type species
	†Xunmenglong yinliangis; Xing et al., 2019

Xunmenglong (from Chinese: 迅猛龍/迅猛龙; pinyin: Xùnměnglóng; lit. 'swift fierce dragon') is a genus of compsognathid theropod dinosaur from the Huajiying Formation from Hebei Province in China. The type and only species is Xunmenglong yinliangis. The holotype material consists of a pelvis, tail base and hindlimbs that had previously been part of a chimera containing three different animals. The animal is described as being the smallest known member of Compsognathidae, being about the size of the sub-adult Scipionyx holotype specimen or approximately 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) in length.^[1]

Classification

In the original description, Xunmenglong is recovered as a Compsognathid in a polyomy including Compsognathus, Huaxiagnathus, and Juravenator. However, Andrea Cau (2024) recovered Xunmenglong not as a Compsognathid, but instead as a basal member of Tetanurae.^[2]

References

^ Xing, Lida; Miyashita, Tetsuto; Wang, Donghao; Niu, Kechung; Currie, Philip J. (2019). "A new compsognathid theropod dinosaur from the oldest assemblage of the Jehol Biota in the Lower Cretaceous Huajiying Formation, northeastern China". Cretaceous Research. 107: 104285. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104285. ISSN 0195-6671. S2CID 210615455.
^ Cau, Andrea (2024). "A Unified Framework for Predatory Dinosaur Macroevolution" (PDF). Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana. 63 (1): 1-19. doi:10.4435/BSPI.2024.08.

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[XingMiyashita2019-1] Xing, Lida; Miyashita, Tetsuto; Wang, Donghao; Niu, Kechung; Currie, Philip J. (2019). "A new compsognathid theropod dinosaur from the oldest assemblage of the Jehol Biota in the Lower Cretaceous Huajiying Formation, northeastern China". Cretaceous Research. 107: 104285. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104285. ISSN 0195-6671. S2CID 210615455.

[Cau2024-2] Cau, Andrea (2024). "A Unified Framework for Predatory Dinosaur Macroevolution" (PDF). Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana. 63 (1): 1-19. doi:10.4435/BSPI.2024.08.

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