Dalianraptor (meaning "Dalian thief") is a dubious, possibly chimeric, genus of theropod dinosaurs from the Jiufotang Formation of China, dating to the Early Cretaceous. It was initially believed to have been a possible dromaeosaurid before it was described in 2005.
Discovery and naming The holotype, D2139, was discovered sometime before the 2000s, when Matthew Martyniuk saw a photograph of the holotype, which was then labelled as an undescribed possible dromaeosaurid. The type, and only known species, D. cuhe, was named and described by Gao & Liu in 2005.Gao and Liu (2005). "A new avian taxon from Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning." Global Geology, 24(4), 313-316.
More recently, it is being suspected that the specimen is a chimera forged for the fossil trade,O'Connor, Sun, Xu, Wang and Zhou (2012). "A new species of Jeholornis with complete caudal integument." Historical Biology, 24(1): 29-41. namely a Jeholornis with the arms exchanged by those of an unnamed flightless theropod. If the holotype is not a chimera, then the phylogenetic placement of Dalianraptor is still uncertain.
Description Dalianraptor is very similar to the contemporary avialian Jeholornis, though it has a longer digit I (thumb-equivalent) and shorter forelimbs, which suggests it may have been flightless. It also reached about in length.
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