Editing Maniraptora (section)

==Description==
[[File:MicroraptorGui-PaleozoologicalMuseumOfChina-May23-08.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Microraptor]]'' specimen with feather impressions]]
Maniraptorans are characterized by long arms and three-fingered hands (though reduced or fused in some lineages), as well as a "half-moon shaped" ([[semilunar bone|semi-lunate]]) bone in the wrist ([[Carpal bones|carpus]]). In 2004, Tom Holtz and Halszka Osmólska pointed out six other maniraptoran characteristics relating to specific details of the skeleton. Unlike most other [[saurischia]]n dinosaurs, which have pubic bones that point forward, several groups of maniraptorans have an [[ornithischia]]n-like backwards-pointing hip bone. A backward-pointing hip characterizes the [[therizinosaur]]s, [[Dromaeosauridae|dromaeosaurids]], [[Avialae|avialans]], and some primitive [[Troodontidae|troodontids]]. The fact that the backward-pointing hip is present in so many diverse maniraptoran groups has led most scientists to conclude that the "primitive" forward-pointing hip seen in advanced troodontids and [[Oviraptorosauria|oviraptorosaurs]] is an evolutionary reversal, and that these groups evolved from ancestors with backward-pointing hips.<ref name="HoltzOsmolska.04">Holtz, T.R. and Osmólska, H. (2004). "Saurischia." In Weishampel, Dodson and Osmólska (eds.), ''The Dinosauria'', second edition. Berkeley: University of California Press.</ref>

===Technical diagnosis===
Holtz and Osmólska (2004) diagnosed the clade Maniraptora based on the following characters: reduced or absent [[olecranon process]] of the [[ulna]], [[greater trochanter]] and [[cranial trochanter]] of the [[femur]] fused into a [[trochanteric crest]]. An elongated, backwards-pointing pubic bone is present in therizinosauroids, dromaeosaurids, avialans, and the basal troodontid ''[[Sinovenator]]'', which suggests that the propubic condition in advanced troodontids and oviraptorosaurs is a reversal.<ref name="HoltzOsmolska.04"/> Turner ''et al.'' (2007) named seven synapomorphies that diagnose Maniraptora.<ref name="turneretal2007a"/>

===Feathers and flight===
[[File:Branta canadensis -near Oceanville, New Jersey, USA -flying-8.jpg|thumb|left|[[Canada goose]] flying]]
Modern [[pennaceous feather]]s and [[remiges]] are known in the advanced maniraptoran group [[Aviremigia]]. More primitive maniraptorans, such as therizinosaurs (specifically ''[[Beipiaosaurus]]''), preserve a combination of simple downy filaments and unique elongated quills.<ref name="xu99">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1038/20670 | last1 = Xu | first1 = X. | last2 = Tang | first2 = Z-L. | last3 = Wang | first3 = X-L. | year = 1999 | title = A therizinosauroid dinosaur with integumentary structures from China | journal = Nature | volume = 399 | issue = 6734| pages = 350–354| bibcode = 1999Natur.399..350X | s2cid = 204993327 }}</ref><ref name="xu2009">Xu X., Zheng X.-t. and You, H.-l. (2009). "A new feather type in a nonavian theropod and the early evolution of feathers." ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Philadelphia)'', {{doi|10.1073/pnas.0810055106}}</ref> Simple feathers are known from more primitive coelurosaurs such as ''[[Sinosauropteryx prima]]'', and possibly from even more distantly related species such as the [[ornithischia]]n ''[[Tianyulong confuciusi]]'' and the flying [[pterosaur]]s. Thus it appears as if some form of feathers or down-like [[integument]] would have been present in all maniraptorans, at least when they were young.<ref name=turneretal2007a>{{cite journal |last=Turner |first=A.H. |author2=Pol, D. |author3=Clarke, J.A. |author4=Erickson, G.M. |author5=Norell, M. |year=2007 |title=A basal dromaeosaurid and size evolution preceding avian flight |url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/317/5843/1378.pdf |journal=Science |volume=317 |pages=1378–1381 |doi=10.1126/science.1144066 |pmid=17823350 |issue=5843|bibcode=2007Sci...317.1378T |s2cid=2519726 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Maniraptora is the only dinosaur group known to include flying members, though how far back in this lineage flight extends is controversial. Powered and/or gliding [[flight]] is believed to have been present in some types of non-avialan paravians, including dromaeosaurids, such as ''[[Rahonavis]]'' and ''[[Microraptor]]''.<ref name="chiappe2007">Chiappe, L.M. (2007). ''Glorified Dinosaurs: The Origin and Early Evolution of Birds.'' Sydney: UNSW Press.</ref> ''[[Zhenyuanlong suni]]'', a [[dromaeosaurid]], was too heavy to fly but still had wings with feathers required for flying, which suggests its ancestors had the ability for aerial locomotion.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/07/16/scientists-find-a-new-dinosaur-with-well-preserved-bird-like-wings-but-not-for-flight/ Scientists find a new dinosaur with well preserved, bird-like wings — but not for flight]</ref> Other groups, like the [[Oviraptorosauria]] who had a tail with a tail fan of feathers with caudal anatomy resembling a [[pygostyle]], are not known to have been capable of flight, but some scientists, such as [[Gregory S. Paul]], have suggested that they could be descended from ancestors which flew. Paul has gone as far as to propose that [[Therizinosauria]], [[Alvarezsauroidea]], and the non-maniraptoran group [[Ornithomimosauria]] also descended from flying ancestors.<ref name=paul2002>{{cite book| author = Paul, G.S.| year = 2002| title = Dinosaurs of the Air: The Evolution and Loss of Flight in Dinosaurs and Birds| location = Baltimore| publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press}}</ref>