A juvenile specimen of a new coelurosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Middle–Late Jurassic Shishugou Formation of Xinjiang, People's Republic of China

We describe the anatomy of a new coelurosaurian theropod Aorun zhaoi gen. et sp. nov., from the Middle–Late Jurassic of Xinjiang, China. Histological analysis of the holotype and only known specimen shows that the new taxon is represented by the skeleton of a juvenile individual aged no more than one year. A phylogenetic analysis of theropod relationships places Aorun as a basal member of the Coelurosauria. Although the sole use of a sub-adult ontogenetic exemplar is potentially problematic for phylogenetic reconstruction, we show that the phylogenetic position of Aorun as a member of Coelurosauria is robust to the exclusion of characters known to change during theropod ontogeny. Aorun is the seventh theropod taxon, and temporally oldest coelurosaur, known from the Shishugou Formation, which has one of the most taxonomically diverse Jurassic coelurosaurian theropod faunas in the world.
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5CC73577-9EB3-47AB-9983-1677B278EFFD

本文记述了产自中国新疆中晚侏罗世的一新属新种虚骨龙类兽脚亚目恐龙——赵氏奥龙（Aorun zhaoi gen. et sp. nov.）的解剖学特征。通过对其正模且为唯一已知标本的组织学分析可知，该新分类单元的化石骨架来自一只年龄不足一岁的幼年个体。针对兽脚亚目亲缘关系的系统发育分析表明，奥龙为虚骨龙类（Coelurosauria）的基干成员。尽管仅采用亚成体个体作为发育代表标本可能对系统发育重建造成潜在局限，但本研究证实，即便剔除已知在兽脚类恐龙发育过程中会发生变化的特征，奥龙作为虚骨龙类成员的系统发育位置依然稳健。目前，在石树沟组（Shishugou Formation）产出的兽脚亚目分类单元中，奥龙是第七个被正式记述的类群，同时也是该组中时代最古老的虚骨龙类；而石树沟组拥有全球分类多样性最高的侏罗纪虚骨龙类兽脚亚目恐龙化石群之一。
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5CC73577-9EB3-47AB-9983-1677B278EFFD