View source for Biology:Serikornis

{{Short description|Extinct genus of birds}}
{{For2|the similarly-named living bird (the scrubwren)|''[[Biology:Sericornis|Sericornis]]''}}
{{Speciesbox
 | fossil_range = Late Jurassic, {{fossilrange|Oxfordian}}
 | image = Serikornis snout tip.jpg
 | image_caption = Snout tip of the holotype featuring maxillary dentition
 | display_parents = 3
 | genus = Serikornis
 | parent_authority = Lefèvre ''et al.'', 2017
 | species = sungei 
 | authority = Lefèvre ''et al.'', 2017
 | synonyms =
}}

'''''Serikornis''''' is a genus of small, feathered [[Biology:Anchiornithidae|anchiornithid]] [[Biology:Dinosaur|dinosaur]] from the Upper Jurassic [[Earth:Tiaojishan Formation|Tiaojishan Formation]] of Liaoning, China. It is represented by the [[Biology:Type species|type species]] ''Serikornis sungei''.

==Discovery==
''Serikornis'', first described in August 2017, is noteworthy for the variety of feather types represented in its holotype, a single complete articulated skeleton preserved on a slab along with extensive integumentary structures.<ref name="Lefevre" /> The specimen's feather imprints include wispy bundles along the neck, short and symmetrical vaned feathers on the arms, and both fuzz and long pennaceous feathers on its hindlimbs. While its anatomy and integument share features with birds as well as derived dromaeosaurs such as ''Microraptor'', cladistic analysis places the genus within the cluster of feathered dinosaurs near the origin of avians. It was unlikely to be a flier.<ref name="cauetal2017"/><ref name="Switek">{{Citation | last = Switek | first = Brian | title = Paleo Profile: The Silk Bird | newspaper = Laelaps: A Scientific American blog | date = 1 September 2017 | url = https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/laelaps/paleo-profile-the-silk-bird/}}</ref>

Its name means "Ge Sun's silk bird", a reference to the plumulaceous-like body covering evident in the fossil.<ref name="Lefevre"/> The specimen's nickname, "Silky", refers to the striking resemblance of the delicate hindlimb filaments to the modern Silky breed of domestic [[Biology:Chicken|chicken]].<ref name="Cau">{{Citation | last = Cau | first = Andrea | title = Serikornis, per gli amici: Silky! | newspaper = Theropoda| date = 22 August 2017 | url = http://theropoda.blogspot.pe/2017/08/serikornis-per-gli-amici-silky.html}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Serikornis.jpg|thumb|left|[[Earth:Paleoart|Life restoration]] by Emily Willoughby]]
The skeletal morphology of ''Serikornis'' suggests a terrestrial ecology without flying adaptations. The tail is covered proximally by filaments and distally by fine [[Biology:Flight feather|rectrices]]. Symmetrical, barbule-free [[Biology:Flight feather|remiges]] are attached along the forelimbs and elongated feathers of the hind limbs extend to the toes, suggesting that the remiges of the hind legs had evolved in the maniraptorans residing on the ground before being co-opted to an arboreal lifestyle and possibly, gliding.<ref name="Lefevre"/>

The coracoid of ''Serikornis'' is devoid of diagnostic ornamentation present in ''[[Biology:Anchiornis|Anchiornis]]'' but is distinguished by having the tuberculous coracoid elongated to form a crest. The postacetabular blade of the ilium (bone) is stouter and more squared than in ''Anchiornis'' but less robust and quadrangular than in ''[[Biology:Aurornis|Aurornis]]''. The ischium does not show the particular dorsocaudally straight morphology that is proper of ''Aurornis'', and has a narrow and unciform process. ''Serikornis'' is further distinguished by having very large anterior most maxillary teeth, about twice as long as the others. Since the skeleton compressed on a plane, Lefèvre and colleagues have used a new microscan technique called luminography to identify the pneumatic cavity in the vertebrae: the cervical vertebrae have a small pneumatic cavity, which is a derived condition shared by many other coelurosaurian theropods.<ref name="Lefevre"/>

==Classification==
A phylogenetic analysis by Lefèvre et al. (2017) places ''Serikornis'', along with other late Jurassic paravians from China, as basal [[Biology:Paraves|Paraves]], outside Eumaniraptora.<ref name="Lefevre">{{cite journal|last=Lefèvre|first=U. |display-authors=0 |year=2017|title=A new Jurassic theropod from China documents a transitional step in the macrostructure of feathers|journal=The Science of Nature|volume=104|issue=74|pages=74|doi=10.1007/s00114-017-1496-y|pmid=28831510}}</ref>
{{Clade| style=font-size:85%;line-height:85%
|label1=[[Biology:Pennaraptora|Pennaraptora]]
|1={{clade
 |1=†[[Biology:Oviraptorosauria|Oviraptorosauria]]
 |label2=[[Biology:Paraves|Paraves]]
 |2={{clade
  |1={{clade
   |1=†[[Biology:Scansoriopterygidae|Scansoriopterygidae]]
   |2={{clade
    |1=†''[[Biology:Xiaotingia|Xiaotingia]]''
    |2=†''[[Biology:Yixianosaurus|Yixianosaurus]]'' }} }}
   |2={{clade
    |1={{clade
     |1={{clade
      |1=†''Pedopenna''
      |2=†''[[Biology:Aurornis|Aurornis]]'' }}
     |2={{clade
      |1=†'''''Serikornis'''''
      |2=†''[[Biology:Eosinopteryx|Eosinopteryx]]'' }} }}
    |2={{clade
     |1=†''[[Biology:Anchiornis|Anchiornis]]''
     |label2=Eumaniraptora
     |2={{clade
      |label1=†[[Biology:Deinonychosauria|Deinonychosauria]]
      |1={{clade
       |1=[[Biology:Troodontidae|Troodontidae]]
       |2=[[Biology:Dromaeosauridae|Dromaeosauridae]] }}
      |label2=Avialae
      |2={{clade
       |1=†''[[Biology:Archaeopteryx|Archaeopteryx]]''
       |2={{clade
        |1=†''[[Biology:Rahonavis|Rahonavis]]''
        |2={{clade
         |1=†''[[Biology:Balaur bondoc|Balaur]]''
         |2={{clade
          |1=†[[Biology:Jeholornithidae|Jeholornithidae]]
          |2=[[Biology:Euavialae|Euavialae]] }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

In the 2017 description of ''Halszkaraptor'' from Cau et al. (2017), who incorporate the a large-scale phylogenetic matrix in their study placed ''Serikornis'' in the newly described family [[Biology:Anchiornithidae|Anchiornithidae]],<ref name="desc">{{cite journal | last1 = Foth | first1 = C. | last2 = Rauhut | first2 = O.W.M. | title = Re-evaluation of the Haarlem Archaeopteryx and the radiation of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs | journal = BMC Evolutionary Biology | volume = 17 | issue = 1 | page = 236 | date = 2017 | doi = 10.1186/s12862-017-1076-y | pmid = 29197327 | pmc = 5712154 }}</ref> still being grouped with ''Eosinopteryx''.<ref name="cauetal2017">{{cite journal|title=Synchrotron scanning reveals amphibious ecomorphology in a new clade of bird-like dinosaurs|first1=A.|last1=Cau|first2=V.|last2=Beyrand|first3=D.|last3=Voeten|first4=V.|last4=Fernandez|first5=P.|last5=Tafforeau|first6=K.|last6=Stein|first7=R.|last7=Barsbold|first8=K.|last8=Tsogtbaatar|first9=P.|last9=Currie|first10=P.|last10=Godefroit|year=2017|journal=Nature|volume=552|issue=7685|pages=395–399|doi=10.1038/nature24679|pmid = 29211712}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Biology:2017 in archosaur paleontology|2017 in archosaur paleontology]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q37789878}}

[[Category:Jurassic birds]]

{{Sourceattribution|Serikornis|1}}