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Clade
Subclade

Taxon
Taxon
Caenagnathidae
Nominal Author
Sternberg 1940
2nd Nominal Author
Taxon Status ACTIVE
Comments

Caenagnathidae was correctly maintained as the appropriate family name by Sues (1997:699) even though he regarded its type genus and species (Caenagnathus collinsi) as a junior synonym of Chirostenotes pergracilis. Although later authors have accepted his synonomy, several have either continued to use Caenagnathus and its species in definitions or have failed to realize that the family name Caenagnathidae and its cognates (e.g. Caenagnathoidea) are available despite the synonomy of the type genus and species (ICZN 1999, Art. 40a).

Sues (1997) provided an unnecessarily long node-based definition that included mention of undescribed material and taxa of dubious standing. This definition has largely been ignored. Sereno (1998) provided a stem-based definition using Caenagnathus, unaware that the genus had just been demoted by Sues (1997) to a junior synonym. Padian et al. (1999) provided a similar stem-based definition using Chirostenotes in place of Caenagnathus. Recently, Maryanska et al. (2002) used the species Caenagnathus collinsi in the definition of the family, even though elsewhere in the paper it is clear that they accept this species as a junior sysnonym of Chirostenotes pergracilis.

The active definition is a first-order revision of Sereno (1998) and is very similar to that given in Maryanska et al. (2002) but uses currently valid species as specifiers. The definition is stem-based, because that has been the more common interpretation after Sues’ initial definition. It is also arguably the more useful definitional type, as it is part of a node-stem triplet within Caenagnathoidea.

Potential Synonomy

Active Phylogenetic Definition
Active Definition
The most inclusive clade containing Chirostenotes pergracilis Gilmore 1924 but not Oviraptor philoceratops Osborn 1924.
Shorthand
> Chirostenotes pergracilis but not Oviraptor philoceratops.
Definitional Author
Sereno 2005
Definition Status checked
Definition Type STEM
Node-Stem Triplet STEM
Other Triplet Taxa
Caenagnathoidea, Oviraptoridae
Specifiers
Specifier(s) A
Chirostenotes pergracilis
Specifier(s) B
Specifier(s) C
Oviraptor philoceratops
Qualifiers
+Taxon
-Taxon
Datum
Taxonomic Content
Publication Year Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
1998

Inactive Taxon Status
Rejection Criteria
Critique
 

Definitional History #1
Earliest Record
Caenagnathus pergracilis Gilmore, 1924 (upper Campanian to lower Maastrichtian, Alberta; including Macrophalagia canadensis C. M. Sternberg, 1932 and Caenagnathus collinsi R. M. Sterberg, 1940 as subjective synonyms), Chirostenotes elegans (Parks, 1933), an as yet unnamed large caenagnathid, “Elmisaurus rarus” Osmólska, 1981 (Maastrichtian, Mongolia), Caenagnathasia martinsoni Currie et al., 1994 (Turonian, Uzbeckistan), and the most recent common ancestor of the aforementioned taxa.
Latest Record
Sues 1997:699
Range (My)
Range (My)
Caenagnathus pergracilis, Chirostenotes elegans, “Elmisaurus rarus”, Caenagnathasia martinsoni
Range (My)

Definitional History #2
Earliest Record
All oviraptorosaurs closer to Caenaganthus than to Oviraptor.
Latest Record
Sereno 1998:65
Range (My)
Range (My)
Caenagnathus, Oviraptor
Range (My)

Definitional History #3
Earliest Record
All taxa closer to Chirostenotes (= Caenagnathus) than to Oviraptor.
Latest Record
Padian et al. 1999:74
Range (My)
Range (My)
Chirostenotes, Oviraptor
Range (My)

Definitional History #4
Earliest Record
The most-inclusive clade containing Caenagnathus collinsi R. M. Sternberg, 1940 but not Oviraptor philoceratops Osborn, 1924.
Latest Record
Maryanska et al. 2002:104
Range (My)
Range (My)
Caenagnathus collinsi, Oviraptor philoceratops
Range (My)

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Definitional History #6
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Definitional History #7
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Definitional History #9
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Definitional History #10
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