Yixianosaurus - Classification

Classification

The describers considered the exact placement of Yixianosaurus within Maniraptora to be uncertain, but because the hand length resembled that of another feathered dinosaur, Epidendrosaurus (now Scansoriopteryx), they suggested it was a close relative of the Scansoriopterygidae. Other researchers have suggested the specimen may have come from a dromaeosaurid. However, later analysis (pending formal publication) has indicated that it is more primitive and outside the clade Eumaniraptora. This would mean that advanced characteristics such as the long hands and short arms evolved independently in this species.