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The Avisauridae are a family of extinct Enantiornithine birds known from Cretaceous North and South America.〔Chiappe, Luis M. (1992) "Enantiornithine (Aves) Tarsometatarsi and the Avian Affinities of the Late Cretaceous Avisauridae" "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology" September 3, 1992, Volume 12 no. 3 pp. 344-350〕 They are represented by ten genera. Avisauridae was erected by Brett-Surman and Paul in 1985. They included in this family a few fossils that they believed belonged to small non-avian dinosaurs. Chiappe (1992) later reassigned the Avisauridae to the class Aves and the subclass Enantiornithes. Chiappe (1993) 〔Chiappe, Luis M. (1993) " Enantiornithine (Aves) Tarsometatarsi from the Cretaceous Lecho Formation of Northwestern Argentina" ''American Museum Novitates'' December 27, 1993 Number 3083 pp. 1-2〕 diagnosed the family as "Enantiornithine birds with a strong transverse convexity of the dorsal surface of the mid — shaft of metatarsal III, a distinct plantar projection of the medial rim of the trochlea of Metatarsal III, and a laterally compressed J-shaped metatarsal I." He defined the family as the common ancestor of ''Neuquenornis volans'' and ''Avisaurus archibaldi'' plus all its descendants. In 2008, the family was redefined as ''Avisaurus archibaldi'' and all genera more closely related to it than to either ''Longipteryx'', ''Gobipteryx'' or ''Sinornis''.〔 Cladogram based on Cau and Arduini (2008):〔 }} }} }} }} }} Chiappe and Calvo (1994) found that the Avisauridae shared adaptations of the foot — including a fully reversed and distally placed hallux with a large claw — that indicated the ability to perch in trees. They argued that an arboreal habit was most likely for all of the Avisauridae.〔Chiappe, Luis M., Calvo, Jorge O. (1994) "Neuquenornis volans, a New Late Cretaceous Bird (Enantiornithes: Avisauridae) from Patagonia, Argentina" "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology" June 22, 1994 Volume 14 No. 2 pp.230-246.〕 ==References== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Avisauridae」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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