Nature volume 440, pages 329–332 (2006)Cite this article
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Small Late Jurassic theropod dinosaurs are rare worldwide. In Europe these carnivorous dinosaurs are represented primarily by only two skeletons of Compsognathus1,2, neither of which is well preserved. Here we describe a small new theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period of Schamhaupten in southern Germany3,4. Being exquisitely preserved and complete from the snout to the distal third of the tail, the new fossil is the best-preserved predatory, non-avian dinosaur in Europe. It possesses a suite of characters that support its identification as a basal coelurosaur. A cladistic analysis indicates that the new taxon is closer to maniraptorans than to tyrannosauroids, grouping it with taxa often considered to be compsognathids. Large portions of integument are preserved along its tail. The absence of feathers or feather-like structures in a fossil phylogenetically nested within feathered theropods5,6 indicates that the evolution of these integumentary structures might be more complex than previously thought.
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We thank H. Weiss and K.-D. Weiss for discovery of the specimen, P. Völkl for its preparation, H. Tischlinger and G. Janssen for photography, M. Kölbl-Ebert and F. Stark for access to the specimen, and E. Frey, D. Goujet, S. Hwang, R. Leinfelder, O. Rauhut, M. Röper, G. Viohl, P. Wellnhofer and W. Werner for providing access to specimens, for logistics, and/or for discussions. This research was made possible by the Humboldt Foundation, and was also supported by the Jurassic Foundation, European Commission's Research Infrastructure Action-Synthesys Program, Antorchas Foundation, Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Geology, Department for Geo- and Environmental Sciences (Munich University), DFG, Jura Museum, and Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Author information Authors and AffiliationsDepartment for Geo- and Environmental Sciences, Section Paleontology, University of Munich, Richard-Wagner-Strasse 10, D-80333, Munich, Germany
Ursula B. Göhlich
The Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, California, 90007, Los Angeles, USA
Luis M. Chiappe
Correspondence to Luis M. Chiappe.
Ethics declarations Competing interestsReprints and permissions information is available at npg.nature.com/reprintsandpermissions. The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information Supplementary NotesThis file contains Supplementary Figures 1–3, Supplementary Table 1 and Supplementary Data (Cladistic analysis, Appendices 1–3) and additional references. (DOC 1424 kb)
About this article Cite this articleGöhlich, U., Chiappe, L. A new carnivorous dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen archipelago. Nature 440, 329–332 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04579
Received: 01 September 2005
Accepted: 10 January 2006
Published: 16 March 2006
Issue Date: 16 March 2006
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04579
Small, Late Jurassic carnivorous dinosaurs are rare worldwide, and in Europe are represented by just two poorly preserved Compsognathus skeletons. Göhlich and Chiappe describe a previously unknown theropod which, like Compsognathus and most specimens of Archaeopteryx, is from the Late Jurassic of Solnhofen, southern Germany. The new find is as well preserved as Archaeopteryx but, surprisingly, it shows absolutely no sign of feathery integument, suggesting that the evolution history of feathers in dinosaurs is a more complex tale than was thought.
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