Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Coelurosauria
Maniraptoriformes
Maniraptora
Pennoraptora
Oviraptorosauria
Caudipteridae
Author: Zhou and Wang
Year: 2000
Meaning: Caudipteryx family (see etymology)
Locomotion: Bipedal (two legs)
Synonyms: Caudipterygidae (Osmólska et al., 2004)
Caudipteridae is a family of oviraptorosaurs known only from Aptian-aged (Early Cretaceous, 125-120 mya) Formations in China, who are typified by a unique dagger-shaped pygostyle—the bone at the tip of the tail in birds, used to anchor a "fan" of feathers.
It was was named in 2000 to house Caudipteryx and its closest relatives, which at the time ammounted to just two species of Caudipteryx, and given that a family isn't really a family unless it houses at least a couple of genera it was a bit pointless. Nevertheless, Caudipteridae was unfathomably renamed Caudipterygidae by Osmólska, Currie and Barsbold in 2004, four years before the second and still only other member, the creatively-named Similicaudipteryx (similar to Caudipteryx) was coined. Most paleontologists still use Caudipteridae, anyway.
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