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Beipiaognathus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 125-121 Ma |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Compsognathidae |
| Genus: |
†Beipiaognathus Hu et al., 2016 |
| Species: | †B. jii |
| Binomial name | |
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Beipiaognathus jii Hu et al., 2016 |
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Beipiaognathus (meaning Beipiao jaw) is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China.
The genus was initially assigned to the Compsognathidae based on the presence of two traits: fan-shaped dorsal neural spines and a robust I-1 phalanx on the hand. However, it also differs from other compsognathids in several ways: the teeth are unserrated and conical; the ulna is proportionally longer; the II-1 phalanx on the hand is longer and more robust; and the tail is much shorter.
However, Andrea Cau has informally noted a number of points in the fossil that are indicative of it having been artificially assembled, thus rendering the specimen a phylogenetically uninformative chimaera.