Knowra Maniraptora Maniraptora Maniraptora is a clade of theropod dinosaurs that includes birds and their closest non-avian relatives. Its members are distinguished by traits including long, grasping forelimbs and, in many lineages, feathers.
Theropoda : Theropoda is a major dinosaur group that includes birds and all other meat-eating dinosaurs. Maniraptora is a branch within this broader dinosaur group.
Manus : The manus is the hand and wrist region of a vertebrate forelimb. Maniraptoran hands retained elongated, mobile digits suited to grasping and other varied uses.
Ostromia : Ostromia is a small theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Germany, originally described as a pterosaur. Its reassignment to a maniraptoran dinosaur illustrates how fragmentary fossils can alter the clade's record.
Tyrannosauroidea : Tyrannosauroidea is a theropod clade that includes Tyrannosaurus and its evolutionary relatives. Tyrannosauroids are coelurosaurs but lie outside Maniraptora, helping mark its narrower scope.
Coelurosauria : Coelurosauria is a diverse theropod clade that includes birds and several groups of small-bodied dinosaurs. Maniraptora is nested within coelurosaurs, closer to birds than many familiar theropods are.
Sickle claw : A sickle claw is an enlarged, curved claw on the second toe of some theropod dinosaurs. Dromaeosaurid maniraptorans are especially known for this claw, though its exact use remains debated.
Anchiornis : Anchiornis is a small feathered dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of China, known from exceptionally preserved fossils. Its preserved plumage provides evidence about early feathered branches near bird origins.
Ornithomimosauria : Ornithomimosauria is a clade of often long-legged, generally toothless theropods resembling ostriches. Ornithomimosaurs are close coelurosaurian relatives but are generally placed outside Maniraptora.
Pennaraptora : Pennaraptora is a maniraptoran clade that includes oviraptorosaurs, dromaeosaurids, troodontids, and birds. This subgroup captures many maniraptorans with pennaceous feathers or related anatomical features.
Feathered dinosaurs : Feathered dinosaurs are non-avian dinosaurs known from fossils preserving feathers or feather-like coverings. Their fossil record documents integumentary diversity across maniraptoran branches.
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