Editing Protarchaeopteryx (section)

{{Short description|Extinct genus of dinosaurs}}
{{Italic title}}
{{speciesbox
| display_parents = 2
| fossil_range = [[Early Cretaceous]], {{Fossil range|124.6}}
| image = Protarchaeopteryx-Geological Museum of China.jpg
| image_caption = Holotype, [[Geological Museum of China]]
| genus = Protarchaeopteryx
| parent_authority = Ji & Ji, 1997
| species = robusta
| authority = Ji & Ji, 1997
}}

'''''Protarchaeopteryx'''''  (meaning "before ''[[Archaeopteryx]]''" although it is from the [[Cretaceous]] and ''Archaeopteryx'' is from the [[Jurassic]]) is a [[genus]] of [[Turkey (bird)|turkey]]-sized feathered [[theropod]] [[dinosaur]] from [[China]].<ref name=protarchaedescription>Ji, Q., and Ji, S. (1997). "Protarchaeopterygid bird (''Protarchaeopteryx'' gen. nov.)&nbsp;– fossil remains of archaeopterygids from China." ''Chinese Geology'', '''238''': 38–41.</ref> Known from the Jianshangou bed of the [[Yixian Formation]], it lived during the early [[Aptian]] age of the Early Cretaceous, approximately 124.6&nbsp;million years ago.<ref name="zhou2006">Zhou, Z. (2006). "Evolutionary radiation of the Jehol Biota: chronological and ecological perspectives." ''Geological Journal'', '''41''': 377–393.</ref> It was probably a [[herbivore]] or omnivore, although its hands were very similar to those of small carnivorous dinosaurs. It appears to be one of the most [[basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] members of the [[Oviraptorosauria]], closely related to ''[[Incisivosaurus]]'',<ref>Paul G.S. (2010), ''The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs'', [[Princeton University Press]], pp. 146–145</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cau|first=Andrea|date=2020-02-25|title=The body plan of Halszkaraptor escuilliei (Dinosauria, Theropoda) is not a transitional form along the evolution of dromaeosaurid hypercarnivory|journal=PeerJ|language=en|volume=8|pages=e8672|doi=10.7717/peerj.8672|pmid=32140312|pmc=7047864|issn=2167-8359|doi-access=free}}</ref> or a taxon slightly less closely related to birds than oviraptorosaurs were.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wang|first1=Min|last2=O’Connor|first2=Jingmai K.|last3=Xu|first3=Xing|last4=Zhou|first4=Zhonghe|date=May 2019|title=A new Jurassic scansoriopterygid and the loss of membranous wings in theropod dinosaurs|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1137-z|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=569|issue=7755|pages=256–259|doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1137-z|pmid=31068719 |bibcode=2019Natur.569..256W|s2cid=148571099|issn=1476-4687|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hartman|first1=Scott|last2=Mortimer|first2=Mickey|last3=Wahl|first3=William R.|last4=Lomax|first4=Dean R.|last5=Lippincott|first5=Jessica|last6=Lovelace|first6=David M.|date=2019-07-10|title=A new paravian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America supports a late acquisition of avian flight|journal=PeerJ|volume=7|pages=e7247|doi=10.7717/peerj.7247|issn=2167-8359|pmc=6626525|pmid=31333906 |doi-access=free }}</ref>