Editing Microraptor (section)

===Naming controversy===
{{Main|Archaeoraptor}}
[[File:Archaeoraptor-Paleozoological Museum of China.jpg|alt=|thumb|The "[[Archaeoraptor]]" fossil; the tail belongs to ''Microraptor'']]
The initial naming of ''Microraptor'' was controversial, because of the unusual circumstances of its first description. The first specimen to be described was part of a chimeric specimen—a patchwork of different feathered dinosaur species (''Microraptor'' itself, ''[[Yanornis]]'' and an as-of-yet undescribed third species) assembled from multiple specimens in China and smuggled to the USA for [[Fossil collecting|sale]]. After the forgery was revealed by [[Xu Xing (paleontologist)|Xu Xing]] of [[Beijing]]'s [[Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology]], [[Storrs L. Olson]], curator of birds in the [[National Museum of Natural History]] of the [[Smithsonian Institution]], published a description of the Microraptor's tail in an obscure journal, giving it the name ''Archaeoraptor liaoningensis'' in an attempt to remove the name from the paleornithological record by assigning it to the part least likely to be a bird.<ref name="olson2000">Olson, S.L. (2000). "Countdown to Piltdown at ''National Geographic'': the rise and fall of ''Archaeoraptor''." ''Backbone'', '''13'''(2) (April): 1–3.</ref> However, Xu had discovered the remains of the specimen from which the tail had been taken and published a description of it later that year, giving it the name ''Microraptor zhaoianus''.<ref name="Xu2000">Xu, X., Zhou, Z., and Wang, X. (2000). "The smallest known non-avian theropod dinosaur." ''Nature'', '''408''' (December): 705-708.{{cite web |url=http://research.amnh.org/%7Esunny/microraptor.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2008-12-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217154907/http://research.amnh.org/%7Esunny/microraptor.pdf |archive-date=2008-12-17 }}</ref>

Since the two names designate the same individual as the [[Type (biology)|type]] specimen, ''Microraptor zhaoianus'' would have been a [[junior objective synonym]] of ''Archaeoraptor liaoningensis'' and the latter, if valid, would have had priority under the [[International Code of Zoological Nomenclature]]. However, there is some doubt whether Olson in fact succeeded in meeting all the formal requirements for establishing a new taxon. Namely, Olson designated the specimen as a [[lectotype]], before an actual type species was formally erected.<ref name=dmlarchaeoraptor>Creisler, B. (2002). "[http://dml.cmnh.org/2001Jan/msg00092.html Archaeoraptor still a nomen nudum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725160846/http://dml.cmnh.org/2001Jan/msg00092.html |date=2008-07-25 }}." Message to the Dinosaur Mailing List, 4 Jan 2001. accessed 23 Sep 2009.</ref> A similar situation arose with ''[[Tyrannosaurus rex]]'' and ''Manospondylus gigas'', in which the former became a ''nomen protectum'' and the latter a ''nomen oblitum'' due to revisions in the ICZN rules that took place on December 31, 1999.<ref name="sowhyhasn">{{Cite web|title=So why hasn't Tyrannosaurus been renamed Manospondylus?|url=http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/dino/faq/s-class/priority/|access-date=2023-02-07|website=The Dinosaur FAQ |last=Taylor |first=M. |author-link=Michael P. Taylor |date=2002-08-27}}</ref> In addition, Xu's name for the type specimen (''Microraptor'') was subsequently used more frequently than the original name; as such, this and the chimeric nature of the specimen would render the name "Archaeoraptor" a ''nomen vanum'' (as it was improperly described) and the junior synonym ''Microraptor'' a ''nomen protectum'' (as it's been used in more published works than "Archaeoraptor" and was properly described).<ref name=dmlarchaeoraptorvmicroraptor>Williams, T. (2002). "[http://dml.cmnh.org/2001Jan/msg00020.html Archaeoraptor v Microraptor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215023/http://dml.cmnh.org/2001Jan/msg00020.html |date=2016-03-03 }}." Message to the Dinosaur Mailing List, 1 Jan 2001. accessed 30 Sept 2014.</ref>