[D] Pedopenna daohugouensis [sG] [T]
Describer
Xu, Zhang, 2005
Time
Jurassic Middle Jurassic Late
Classification
Saurischia Theropoda Tetanurae Coelurosauria Maniraptora [Eumaniraptora]
Diet
Carnivore
Fossilsite
Daohugou Formation, Nei Mongol, China
Length
1 m
Info
Genus - Typespecies
Pedopenna daohugouensis displays unusual long pennaceous feathers on the feet.This suggests that such morphology might represent a primitive adaptation close to the theropod-bird transition. The long metatarsus feathers are likely primitive for Eumaniraptora and might have played an important role in the origin of avian flight.
Holotype
IVPP V12721, partial right leg and associated integumentary structures preserved on a slab as part and counterpart
The generic name refers to the long pennaceous feathers on the feet; the specific epithet refers to the locality that produced the holotype.
Pedopenna daohugouensis differs from the dromaeosaurids and troodontids in having a less specialized pedal digit II and pedal phalanx II-2 longer than II-1, from the dromaeosaurids in having a short metatarsal V and lacking a postomedial flange on metatarsal IV, from the [Aves] Avialae including Epidendrosaurus in having a hallux which is not reversed and a pedal phalangeal portion shorter than the metatarsus.