Description
Similicaudipteryx is known from three specimens ranging from young juvenile to adult. It was a small oviraptorosaur similar to, but larger than, the perhaps closely related Caudipteryx. Paul in 2010 estimated the length at one metre, the weight at seven kilogrammes. Like Caudipteryx, it had a short snout with a downcurved lower jaw. It had relatively short arms and long legs. Similicaudipteryx also differed from its relatives by possessing a dagger-shaped pygostyle (the bone at the end of the tail to which feathers anchor in birds) consisting of the two most extreme tail vertebrae and several unique features of the back vertebrae. The pubic bone was exceptionally long relative to the ilium. The only other oviraptorosaur reported to have a pygostyle is Nomingia, though the feature is widespread in more advanced birds and appears to have evolved at least twice.
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