Editing Compsognathus (section)

==Classification==

[[File:Archaeopteryx, Compsognathus and Rhamphorhynchus by Knight.jpg|left|thumb|Outdated restoration of ''Compsognathus'' and ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'' by [[Charles R. Knight]]]]
Originally classified as a lizard, the dinosaurian affinities of ''Compsognathus'' were first noted by Gegenbaur, Cope, and Huxley between 1863 and 1868.<ref name="gegenbaur1863"/><ref name="cope1867"/><ref name="huxley1868"/> Cope, in 1870, classified ''Compsognathus'' within a new clade of dinosaurs, the Symphypoda, which also contained ''Ornithotarsus'' (today classified as ''[[Hadrosaurus]]'').<ref name="cope1870">{{Cite journal| volume = 14| issue = 1| pages = 1–252| last = Cope| first = E. D.| title = Synopsis of the extinct Batrachia, Reptilia, and Aves of North America| journal = Transactions of the American Philosophical Society| series = New Series| date = 1870| doi = 10.2307/1005355| jstor = 1005355| url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/60482| archive-date = May 31, 2022| access-date = June 21, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220531232346/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/60482| url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="baur1891">{{Cite journal| volume = 25| issue = 293| pages = 434–454| last = Baur| first = Georg| title = Remarks on the reptiles generally called Dinosauria| journal = The American Naturalist| date = 1891| doi = 10.1086/275329| s2cid = 84575190}}</ref> Later, both genera were found to belong to other groups of Cope's classification of dinosaurs: ''Compsognathus'' to the Gonipoda (equivalent to [[Theropoda]], in which it is now classified), and ''Ornithotarsus'' to the Orthopoda (equivalent to [[Ornithischia]]).<ref name="baur1891"/> Huxley, in 1870, rejected Cope's dinosaur classification scheme, and instead proposed the new clade [[Ornithoscelida]], in which he included the Dinosauria (comprising several forms now considered as ornithischians) and another new clade, the Compsognatha, which contained ''Compsognathus'' as the only member.<ref name="huxley1870">{{cite wikisource | last1=Huxley | first1=Thomas H. | title=On the Classification of the Dinosauria, with observations on the Dinosauria of the Trias | wslink=Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London/Volume 26/On the Classification of the Dinosauria, with observations on the Dinosauria of the Trias | work=Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London | volume=26 | year=1870 | doi=10.1144/gsl.jgs.1870.026.01-02.09 | pages=32–51 | firsticon=yes | noicon=yes }}</ref><ref name="seeley1888">{{Cite journal| volume = 43| issue = 258–265| pages = 165–171| last = Seeley| first = Harry Govier| title = On the classification of the fossil animals commonly named Dinosauria| journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society of London| date = 1888}}</ref> Later, these groups fell into disuse, although a resurrection of the Ornithoscelida was proposed in 2017.<ref name="baron2017">{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1038/nature21700| issn = 1476-4687| volume = 543| issue = 7646| pages = 501–506| last1 = Baron| first1 = Matthew G.| last2 = Norman| first2 = David B.| last3 = Barrett| first3 = Paul M.| title = A new hypothesis of dinosaur relationships and early dinosaur evolution| journal = Nature| access-date = December 27, 2020| date = 2017| pmid = 28332513| bibcode = 2017Natur.543..501B| s2cid = 205254710| url = https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21700| archive-date = March 23, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170323013818/https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21700| url-status = live| url-access = subscription}}</ref> The group Compsognatha was used for the last time by Marsh in a 1896 publication, where it was treated as a suborder of Theropoda.<ref name="marsh1996">{{Cite journal| volume = 3| issue = 9| pages = 388–400| last = Marsh| first = O. C.| title = Classification of Dinosaurs| journal = Geological Magazine| date = 1896| doi = 10.1017/S0016756800131826| bibcode = 1896GeoM....3..388M| s2cid = 131106051| url = https://zenodo.org/record/2210524| archive-date = July 28, 2020| access-date = July 1, 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200728200916/https://zenodo.org/record/2210524| url-status = live}}</ref><ref name=peyer06/> In the same publication, Marsh erected the new family [[Compsognathidae]].<ref name="marsh1996"/><ref name=peyer06/> Friedrich von Huene, in 1914, erected the new [[infraorder]] [[Coelurosauria]], which includes the Compsognathidae amongst other families of small theropods; this classification remained in use since.<ref name="huene1914">{{Cite journal| volume = 1914| pages = 154–158| last = Huene| first = F. von| title = Das natürliche system der Saurischia| journal = Zentralblatt für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Abteilung B| date = 1914}}</ref><ref name=peyer06/>

The Compsognathidae are a group of mostly small dinosaurs from the late Jurassic and early [[Cretaceous]] periods of China, Europe and South America.<ref name=peyer06/> For many years, ''Compsognathus'' was the only member known, but in recent decades paleontologists have discovered several related genera. The [[clade]] includes ''[[Aristosuchus]]'',<ref>{{cite journal |last= Seeley|first= H.G.|year=1887|title= On ''Aristosuchus pusillus'' (Owen), being further notes on the fossils described by Sir. R. Owen as ''Poikilopleuron pusillus'', Owen|journal=Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London|volume= 43|issue=1–4|pages=221–228|doi=10.1144/GSL.JGS.1887.043.01-04.22|s2cid= 131237500}}</ref> ''[[Huaxiagnathus]]'',<ref>{{cite journal |last= Hwang |first= S.H. |author2= Norell, M. A. |author3= Qiang, J. |author4= Keqin, G. |s2cid= 86321886 |year= 2004 |title= A large compsognathid from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China |journal= Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume= 2 |issue= 1 |pages= 13–39 |doi= 10.1017/S1477201903001081 |bibcode= 2004JSPal...2...13H |url= http://doc.rero.ch/record/14846/files/PAL_E1983.pdf |archive-date= April 9, 2023 |access-date= January 3, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230409033109/https://doc.rero.ch/record/14846/files/PAL_E1983.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref> ''[[Mirischia]]'',<ref>{{cite journal|last=Naish|first=D.|author2=Martill, D. M.|author3=Frey, E.|year=2004|title=Ecology, systematics and biogeographical relationships of dinosaurs, including a new theropod, from the Santana Formation (?Albian, Early Cretaceous) of Brazil|journal=Historical Biology|volume=16|issue=2–4|pages=1–14|doi=10.1080/08912960410001674200|bibcode=2004HBio...16...57N|url=http://darrennaish.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/naish-et-al-2004-new-theropod-mirischia-from-brazil.pdf|citeseerx=10.1.1.394.9219|s2cid=18592288|archive-date=August 9, 2017|access-date=August 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809123620/https://darrennaish.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/naish-et-al-2004-new-theropod-mirischia-from-brazil.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Sinosauropteryx]]'',<ref name="Currie2001">{{cite journal|last= Currie|first= P.J.|author2= P. Chen|year= 2001|title= Anatomy of Sinosauropteryx prima from Liaoning, northeastern China|journal= Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences|volume= 38|issue= 12|pages= 1705–1727|doi= 10.1139/cjes-38-12-1705|bibcode= 2001CaJES..38.1705C|url= http://doc.rero.ch/record/14314/files/PAL_E1480.pdf|archive-date= January 22, 2023|access-date= January 3, 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230122224657/https://doc.rero.ch/record/14314/files/PAL_E1480.pdf|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="Ji1996">{{cite journal |last= Ji|first= Q. |author2=Ji S.A. |year=1996|title= On discovery of the earliest bird fossil in China and the origin of birds (in Chinese)|journal=Chinese Geology |volume= 233|pages=30–33}}</ref> and perhaps ''[[Juravenator]]'' and ''[[Scipionyx]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Göhlich |first=U. |author2=L. M Chiappe |year=2006 |title=A new carnivorous dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen archipelago |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/232914/files/PAL_E4515.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Nature |volume=440 |issue=7082 |pages=329–332 |bibcode=2006Natur.440..329G |doi=10.1038/nature04579 |pmid=16541071 |s2cid=4427002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123105644/http://doc.rero.ch/record/232914/files/PAL_E4515.pdf |archive-date=January 23, 2023 |access-date=August 6, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Dal Sasso|first=C.|author2=M. Signore|year=1998|title=Exceptional soft-tissue preservation in a theropod dinosaur from Italy|journal=Nature|volume=392|issue=6674|pages=383–387|doi=10.1038/32884|bibcode=1998Natur.392..383D|s2cid=4325093|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/14901/files/PAL_E2043.pdf|archive-date=September 20, 2016|access-date=December 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920170653/https://doc.rero.ch/record/14901/files/PAL_E2043.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> At one time, ''[[Mononykus]]'' was proposed as a member of the family, but this was rejected by Chen and coauthors in a 1998 paper; they considered the similarities between ''Mononykus'' and the compsognathids to be an example of [[convergent evolution]].<ref name="Chen">{{cite journal| last = Chen| first = P.| author2 = Dong, Z. |author3 = Zhen, S.| title = An exceptionally well-preserved theropod dinosaur from the Yixian Formation of China| journal = Nature| volume = 391| issue =6663| pages = 147–152| year = 1998| doi = 10.1038/34356| bibcode=1998Natur.391..147C| s2cid = 4430927| url = http://doc.rero.ch/record/14898/files/PAL_E2040.pdf}}</ref> The position of ''Compsognathus'' and its relatives within the [[Coelurosauria|coelurosaur]] group is uncertain. Some, such as theropod expert [[Thomas R. Holtz Jr.|Thomas Holtz Jr.]] and co-authors [[Ralph Molnar]] and [[Phil Currie]] in the landmark 2004 text ''Dinosauria'', hold the family as the most [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] of the coelurosaurs,<ref name="dinosauria04">{{cite book|title=The Dinosauria|url=https://archive.org/details/dinosauriandedit00weis|url-access=limited|year=2004|chapter=Basal Tetanurae|veditors=Weishampel DB, Osmólska H, Dodson P |vauthors=Holtz TR, Molnar RE, Currie PJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/dinosauriandedit00weis/page/n123 105]|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24209-8|edition=2nd}}</ref> while others as part of the [[Maniraptora]].<ref>{{cite journal |last= Gauthier|first= J.A.|year=1986|title= Saurischian monophyly and the origin of birds|journal=In Padian, K. (Ed.) the Origin of Birds and the Evolution of Flight, Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences |volume=8|pages=1–55}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last= Forster|first= C.A.|author2 = Sampson, S.D.|author3=Chiappe, L.M. |author4=Krause, D.W. |year=1998|title= The theropod ancestry of birds: new evidence from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar|journal=Science|volume=279|issue=5358|pages=1915–1919 |doi=10.1126/science.279.5358.1915|pmid= 9506938 |bibcode = 1998Sci...279.1915F }}</ref>

For almost a century, ''Compsognathus longipes'' was the only well-known small theropod species. This led to comparisons with ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'' and to suggestions of an especially close relationship with birds. In fact, ''Compsognathus'', rather than ''Archaeopteryx'', piqued Huxley's interest in the origin of birds.<ref name = "FasWeis04">{{cite book|title=The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs|year=2005|chapter=Theropoda I:Nature red in tooth and claw|veditors=Fastovsky DE, Weishampel DB |vauthors=Fastovsky DE, Weishampel DB |pages=265–299|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-81172-9|edition=2nd}}</ref> The two animals share similarities in shape and proportions, so many in fact that two specimens of ''Archaeopteryx'', the "Eichstätt" and the "Solnhofen", were for a time misidentified as those of ''Compsognathus''.<ref name="Lambert"/> Many other types of theropod dinosaurs, such as [[maniraptora]]ns, are now known to have been more closely related to birds.<ref name=weishampel04/>

[[File:Compsognathus longipes.jpg|thumb|Skeletal reconstruction by Marsh, 1896]]
[[File:Compsognathidae.jpg|thumb|Diagrams showing known elements of the two specimens (middle) and other [[compsognathids]]]]
Below is a simplified cladogram placing ''Compsognathus'' in Compsognathidae by Senter ''et al.'' in 2012.<ref name=senter10>{{Cite journal | last1 = Senter | first1 = P. | last2 = Kirkland | first2 = J. I. | last3 = Deblieux | first3 = D. D. | last4 = Madsen | first4 = S. | last5 = Toth | first5 = N. | editor1-last = Dodson | editor1-first = Peter | title = New Dromaeosaurids (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah, and the Evolution of the Dromaeosaurid Tail | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0036790 | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 7 | issue = 5 | pages = e36790 | year = 2012 | pmid = 22615813| pmc = 3352940|bibcode = 2012PLoSO...736790S | doi-access = free }}</ref>

{{clade| style=font-size:100%; line-height:100%
      |label1=[[Compsognathidae]]
      |1={{clade
         |1={{clade
            |1=''[[Sinocalliopteryx]]''
            |2=''[[Huaxiagnathus]]'' }}
         |2={{clade
            |1=''[[Sinosauropteryx]]''
            |2={{clade
               |1='''''Compsognathus'''''
               |2={{clade
                  |1=''[[Juravenator]]''
                  |2=''[[Scipionyx]]'' }} }} }} }} }}

Here is an alternative phylogeny, published by ''Cau'' in 2024, with both specimens in bold.
{{clade|style=font-size:85%;line-height:80%
|label1=[[Tetanurae]]
|1={{clade
|1={{clade
 |1=''[[Siamraptor]]''
 |2=''[[Siamotyrannus]]'' }}
|label2=[[Orionides]]
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Streptospondylus]]''
|2=''[[Xuanhanosaurus]]''
|3=''[[Poekilopleuron]]''
|4=''[[Piveteausaurus]]''
|5=''[[Piatnitzkysaurus]]''
|6=''[[Marshosaurus]]''
|7=''[[Leshansaurus]]''
|8=''[[Eustreptospondylus]]''
|9=''[[Condorraptor]]''
|10=''[[Asfaltovenator]]''
|11={{clade
|1=''[[Sciurumimus]]''
|2=''[[Nedcolbertia]]''
|3=''[[Magnosaurus]]''
|4=''[[Duriavenator]]''
|5=''[[Afrovenator]]''
|6={{clade
|1='''''Compsognathus longipes'''''
|2='''''Compsognathus corallestris'''''
|3=''[[Torvosaurus|Torvosaurus tanneri]]''
|4=''[[Torvosaurus|Torvosaurus gurneyi]]''
|5=''[[Megalosaurus]]''
|6={{clade
|1=''[[Scipionyx]]''
|2=''[[Wiehenvenator]]''
|3=''[[Iberospinus]]''
|4={{clade
|1=[[Baryonychinae]]
|2=[[Spinosaurinae]] }} }} }} }} }}
|label2=[[Avetheropoda]]
|2={{clade
|1=[[Allosauroidea]] (Incl. ''[[Juravenator]]'' at an indeterminate position)
|label2=[[Coelurosauria]]
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Sinosauropteryx]]''
|2=''[[Sinocalliopteryx]]''
|3=''[[Mirischia]]''
|4=''[[Huaxiagnathus]]''
|5=''[[Zuolong]]''
|label6=[[Tyrannoraptora]]
|6={{clade
|1=[[Maniraptoromorpha]]
|2={{clade
|1=NGMC 2124
|2=''[[Tanycolagreus]]''
|3=''[[Stokesosaurus]]''
|4=''[[Juratyrant]]''
|5=[[Eutyrannosauria]] }} }} }} }} }} }} }}