Six exemplar coelurosaurs (clockwise from top left): Tyrannosaurus rex, Sinosauropteryx prima, Deinonychus antirrhopus, Archaeopteryx lithographica, the Zamyn Khondt oviraptorid, and Passer domesticus
This is my comprehensive attempt to improve Wikipedia's coverage of coelurosaurs, their evolution, and their taxonomy.
Coelurosaurs are one of the most successful groups of animals in Earth's history. This group includes the birds, which are the most diverse group of terrestrial vertebrates alive today. They are also among the most well-sampled and studied of all prehistoric animals. My goal is to expand coverage of the lesser-known coelurosaurs because many of them feature prominently in the scientific literature, but this is not reflected on Wikipedia.
My format for expanding a page for a taxon follows the guidelines of WP:DINO and WP:PAL, which suggest the following format for structuring an article:
Intro paragraph including etymology and a brief summary
Discovery
Description: size estimates, any species, skull, post-cranial anatomy
Classification: phylogeny, evolution, possible synonymity
^Ji Qiang; Lü Jun-Chang; Wei Xue-Fang; Wang Xu-Ri (2012). "A new oviraptorosaur from the Yixian Formation of Jianchang, Western Liaoning Province, China". Geological Bulletin of China. 31 (12): 2102–2107.
^Averianov, A. O.; Krasnolutskii, S. A.; Ivantsov, S. V. (2010). "A new basal coelurosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Middle Jurassic of Siberia". Proceedings of the Zoological Institute. 314 (1): 42–57.
^Bonaparte, José F. (1991). "Los vertebrados fósiles de la formación Río Colorado, de la ciudad de Neuquén y cercanías, Cretácico Superior, Argentina" [The fossil vertebrates of the Colorado River formation, from the city of Neuquén and surroundings, Upper Cretaceous, Argentina]. Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia". Paleontología (in Spanish). 4 (3): 15–123. ISSN0524-9511.
^Averianov AO, Sues HD (2022). "New material and diagnosis of a new taxon of alvarezsaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41 (5): e2036174. doi:10.1080/02724634.2021.2036174. S2CID247391327.
^F. E. Novas. 1994. Patagonykus puertai n. gen. et sp., and the phylogenetic relationships of the Alvarezsauridae (Theropoda, Maniraptora). VI Congreso Argentino de Paleontología y Bioestratigrafía, R. Cúneo (ed), Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew.
^Xu, X., Wang, D.Y., Sullivan, C., Hone, D.W.E., Han, F.L., Yan, R.H. and Du, F.M. (2010). "A basal parvicursorine (Theropoda: Alvarezsauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of China.". Zootaxa, 2413: 1-19.
^Wang, S.; Sun, C.; Sullivan, C.; Xu, X. (2013). "A new oviraptorid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of southern China". Zootaxa. 3640 (2): 242–257. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3640.2.7. PMID26000415.
^Lü., J., Xu, L., Jiang, X., Jia, S., Li, M., Yuan, C., Zhang, X. and Ji, Q. (2009). "A preliminary report on the new dinosaurian fauna from the Cretaceous of the Ruyang Basin, Henan Province of central China." Journal of the Palaeontological Society of Korea, 25: 43-56.
^Ostrom, John H. (1970) Stratigraphy and Paleontology of the Cloverly Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Bighorn Basin Area, Wyoming and Montana. Yale University Press, 2020, doi:10.2307/j.ctvxkn7tk.
^Barsbold, R.; Osmólska, H.; Watabe, M.; Currie, P.J.; Tsogtbaatar, K. (2000). "New Oviraptorosaur (Dinosauria, Theropoda) From Mongolia: The First Dinosaur With A Pygostyle". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 45 (2): 97–106.
^Lu, J. and Zhang, B.-K. (2005). "A new oviraptorid (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of the Nanxiong Basin, Guangdong Province of southern China." Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 44(3): 412–422.
^Pei, R.; Qin, Yuying; Wen, Aishu; Zhao, Q.; Wang, Z.; Liu, Z.; Guo, W.; Liu, P.; Ye, W.; Wang, L.; Yin, Z.; Dai, R.; Xu, X. (2022). "A New Troodontid from the Upper Cretaceous Gobi Basin of Inner Mongolia, China". Cretaceous Research. 130: Article 105052. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.105052.
^Paul, Gregory S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (Third Edition). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN978-0691231570.