Maniraptora
| Maniraptorans | |
|---|---|
| |
| Skeleton cast of Falcarius utahensis | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Maniraptoriformes |
| Clade: | Maniraptora Gauthier, 1986 |
| Subgroups | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Metornithes Perle et al., 1993 | |
Maniraptors ("hand snatchers") is a clade of coelurosaurian dinosaurs starting in the Jurassic period.
Many paleontologists believe birds evolved from them some 150 or so million years ago. Hence, according to phylogenetic taxonomy, birds are by definition maniraptors, and the other maniraptors are their closest relatives. It is now known, from the Jehol biota, that many or all of this clade had feathers. They are often called dinobirds.
The most primitive (basal) member of the group may be Ornitholestes, and the most advanced (derived) of the non-bird maniraptors is Velociraptor and Deinonychus.