Biology:Wellnhoferia
| Wellnhoferia | |
|---|---|
| |
| The type specimen | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Archaeopterygidae |
| Genus: | †Wellnhoferia Elżanowski, 2001 |
| Species | |
| |
Wellnhoferia (named after Peter Wellnhofer) is a genus of early prehistoric bird-like theropod dinosaur closely related to Archaeopteryx. It lived in what is now Germany , during the Late Jurassic. While Wellnhoferia was similar to Archaeopteryx, it had a shorter tail and its fourth toe was shorter than in Archaeopteryx. Andrzej Elżanowski (2001) of the Institute of Zoology of the University of Wrocław, Poland, determined the differences resulted from a "phylogenetic reduction rather than individual variation."[1]
The type specimen is the Solnhofen Specimen of Archaeopteryx (BSP 1999). Discovered in the 1960s near Eichstätt, Germany and described in 1988 by Wellnhofer (as a specimen of Archaeopteryx),[2] it is currently located at the Bürgermeister-Müller-Museum in Solnhofen. It was originally classified as a Compsognathus by an amateur collector.
Although Elżanowski found significant differences between Wellnhoferia and Archaeopteryx, a 2007 study by Mayr et al. [3] found Wellnhoferia was a specimen of Archaeopteryx lithographica. Senter and Robins (2003), however, supported Elżanowski's naming of a new genus.[4]
References
- ↑ Elżanowski, Andrzej (2001). "A new genus and species for the largest specimen of Archaeopteryx". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 46 (4): 519–532. http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app46/app46-519.pdf.
- ↑ Wellnhofer, Peter (1988). "A New Specimen of Archaeopteryx". Science 240 (4860): 1790. doi:10.1126/science.240.4860.1790. PMID 17842432. Bibcode: 1988Sci...240.1790W.
- ↑ Mayr, Gerald; Pohl, Burkhard; Hartman, Scott; Peters, D. Stefan (2007). "The tenth skeletal specimen of Archaeopteryx". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 149 (1): 97–116. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2006.00245.x. https://www.academia.edu/download/30441448/ZJLS-2007-Mayr_et_al-10th_Archaeopteryx__bird__dino__theropod__LJ__GER.pdf.[|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
- ↑ Senter, Phil; Robins, James H. (2003). "Taxonomic status of the specimens of". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23 (4): 961–965. doi:10.1671/22.
Wikidata ☰ Q138070 entry
 |  |
