Belongs within: Coelurosauria.
Contains: Oviraptorosauria, Dromaeosauridae, Troodontidae, Avialae.
The clade Maniraptora contains all theropods more closely related to the birds than to ornithomimosaurs. The name refers to the large, grasping hands used in capturing prey by some members of the clade, such as the dromaeosaurs, though members of the clade were morphologically and ecologically diverse. These include the Alvarezsauroidea, a group of small, cursorial forms in which the forelimbs had the first digit enlarged relative to the others, the latter often being reduced and non-functional. Haplocheirus sollers from the early Late Jurassic of China retains recurved unguals on the second and third digits, and the second digit remains longer than the first (Choiniere et al. 2010).
The Therizinosauria, in contrast, were mostly large, heavy-bodied forms with small leaf-shaped teeth and edentulous beaks that were probably herbivorous (Kirkland et al. 2005). The Scansoriopterygidae were small arboreal theropods capable of gliding flight.
Maniraptora [Metornithes]
|--AlvarezsauroideaXS11
| |--Haplocheirus Choiniere, Xu et al. 2010GC13, CX10
| | `--*H. sollers Choiniere, Xu et al. 2010CX10
| `--Alvarezsauridae [Alvarezsauria]CX10
| | i. s.: Kol ghuvaP10
| |--Alvarezsaurus Bonaparte 1991GC13, P04
| | `--A. calvoi Bonaparte 1991P04
| |--Achillesaurus manazzoneiXS11
| `--+--+--BonapartenykusGC13
| | `--Patagonykus Novas 1996GC13, P04
| | `--P. puertai Novas 1996P04
| `--ParvicursorinaeXS11
| | i. s.: Ceratonykus osculansCX10
| |--Linhenykus Xu, Sullivan et al. 2011XS11
| | `--*L. monodactylus Xu, Sullivan et al. 2011XS11
| `--+--Albertonykus borealisXS11
| `--+--Xixianykus zhangiXS11
| `--+--Parvicursor Karhu & Rautian 1996XS11, P04
| | `--P. remotus Karhu & Rautian 1996P04
| `--+--Mononykus Perle, Norell et al. 1993XS11, P04
| | `--M. olecranus Perle, Norell et al. 1993P04
| `--Shuuvuia Chiappe, Norell & Clark 1998XS11, P04
| `--S. deserti Chiappe, Norell & Clark 1998P04
`--+--+--OviraptorosauriaGC13
| `--ParavesGC13
| |--ScansoriopterygidaeGC13
| | |--Epidexipteryx Zhang, Zhou et al. 2008GC13, ZZ08
| | | `--*E. hui Zhang, Zhou et al. 2008ZZ08
| | `--Epidendrosaurus Zhang, Zhao et al. 2002 [incl. Scansoriopteryx Czerkas & Yuan 2000]P04
| | `--E. ningchengensis Zhang, Zhou et al. 2002GC13 [incl. Scansoriopteryx heilmanni Czerkas & Yuan 2000P04]
| `--+--Eosinopteryx brevipinnaGC13
| `--Eumaniraptora [Deinonychosauria, Elopterygidae]GC13
| | i. s.: Nuthetes Owen 1854D07
| | `--N. destructor Owen 1854 (n. d.)HMC04
| | Yixianosaurus Xu & Wang 2003D07
| | `--Y. longimanusD07
| | Ricardoestesia Currie, Rigby & Sloan 1990P10, HMC04
| | |--R. gilmorei Currie, Rigby & Sloan 1990HMC04 [=Richardoestesia gilmoreiP10]
| | `--R. isosceles Sankey 2001HMC04
| | Pedopenna Xu & Zhang 2005P10, D07
| | `--P. daohugouensisD07
| |--DromaeosauridaeGC13
| `--+--TroodontidaeGC13
| `--AvialaeGC13
`--Therizinosauria [Segnosauria, Segnosauridae, Segnosaurischia, Therizinosauroidea]ZZ08
| i. s.: ‘Chilantaisaurus’ zheziangensis Dong 1979CMB04
| Enigmosaurus Barsbold & Perle 1983CMB04
| `--E. mongoliensis Barsbold & Perle 1983CMB04
| JianchangosaurusNS15
| Suzhousaurus megatheriodesP10
|--Falcarius Kirkland, Zanno et al. 2005GC13, KZ05
| `--*F. utahensis Kirkland, Zanno et al. 2005KZ05
`--+--Beipiaosaurus Xu, Tang & Wang 1999GC13, CMB04
| `--B. inexpectus Xu, Tang & Wang 1999CMB04
`--+--Alxasaurus Russell & Dong 1993GC13, CMB04
| `--A. elesitaiensis Russell & Dong 1993CMB04
`--TherizinosauridaeCMB04
| i. s.: Eshanosaurus Xu, Zhao & Clark 2001CMB04
| `--E. deguchiianus Xu, Zhao & Clark 2001CMB04
|--Erlianosaurus Xu, Zhang et al. 2002ZZ08, CMB04
| `--E. bellamanus Xu, Zhang et al. 2002CMB04
|--Nothronychus Kirkland & Wolfe 2001GC13, CMB04
| |--N. graffamiGC13
| `--N. mckinleyi Kirkland & Wolfe 2001CMB04
|--Nanshiungosaurus Dong 1979ZZ08, CMB04
| |--N. bohlini Dong & Yu 1997CMB04
| `--N. brevispinus Dong 1979CMB04
`--+--Neimongosaurus Zhang, Xu et al. 2001ZZ08, CMB04
| `--N. yangi Zhang, Xu et al. 2001CMB04
`--+--Segnosaurus Perle 1979ZZ08, CMB04
| `--S. galbinensis Perle 1979CMB04
`--+--Therizinosaurus Maleev 1954ZZ08, CMB04
| `--T. cheloniformis Maleev 1954CMB04
`--Erlikosaurus Perle 1981GC13, CMB04
`--E. andrewsi Perle 1981CMB04
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[CX10] Choiniere, J. N., X. Xu, J. M. Clark, C. A. Forster, Y. Guo & F. Han. 2010. A basal alvarezsauroid theropod from the early Late Jurassic of Xinjiang, China. Science 327: 571–574.
[CMB04] Clark, J. M., T. Maryańska & R. Barsbold. 2004. Therizinosauroidea. In: Weishampel, D. B., P. Dodson & H. Osmólska (eds) The Dinosauria 2nd ed. pp. 151–164. University of California Press: Berkeley.
[D07] Dixon, D. 2007. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Hermes House: London.
[GC13] Godefroit, P., A. Cau, Hu D.-Y., F. Escuillié, Wu W. & G. Dyke. 2013. A Jurassic avialan dinosaur from China resolves the early phylogenetic history of birds. Nature 498: 359–362.
[HMC04] Holtz, T. R., Jr, R. E. Molnar & P. J. Currie. 2004. Basal Tetanurae. In: Weishampel, D. B., P. Dodson & H. Osmólska (eds) The Dinosauria 2nd ed. pp. 71–110. University of California Press: Berkeley.
[KZ05] Kirkland, J. I., L. E. Zanno, S. D. Sampson, J. M. Clark & D. D. DeBlieux. 2005. A primitive therizinosauroid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Utah. Nature 435: 84–87.
[NS15] Novas, F. E., L. Salgado, M. Suárez, F. L. Agnolin, M. D. Ezcurra, N. R. Chimento, R. de la Cruz, M. P. Isasi, A. O. Vargas & D. Rubilar-Rogers. 2015. An enigmatic plant-eating theropod from the Late Jurassic period of Chile. Nature 522: 331–334.
[P04] Padian, K. 2004. Basal Avialae. In: Weishampel, D. B., P. Dodson & H. Osmólska (eds) The Dinosauria 2nd ed. pp. 210–231. University of California Press: Berkeley.
[P10] Paul, G. S. 2010. Dinosaurs: A Field Guide. A & C Black.
[XS11] Xu, X., C. Sullivan, M. Pittman, J. N. Choiniere, D. Hone, P. Upchurch, Q. Tan, D. Xiao, L. Tan & F. Han. 2011. A monodactyl nonavian dinosaur and the complex evolution of the alvarezsauroid hand. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 108 (6): 2338–2342.
[ZZ08] Zhang, F., Z. Zhou, X. Xu, X. Wang & C. Sullivan. 2008. A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran from China with elongate ribbon-like feathers. Nature 455: 1105–1108.