Scansoriopterygidae (meaning "climbing wings") is an extinct family of climbing and gliding maniraptoran dinosaurs. Scansoriopterygids are known from five well-preserved fossils, representing four species, unearthed in the Tiaojishan Formation fossil beds (dating to the mid-late Jurassic Period) of Liaoning and Hebei, China.
Scansoriopteryx heilmanni (and its likely synonym Epidendrosaurus ninchengensis) was the first non-avian dinosaur found that had clear adaptations to an arboreal or semi-arboreal lifestyle–it is likely that they spent much of their time in trees. Both specimens showed features indicating they were juveniles, which made it difficult to determine their exact relationship to other non-avian dinosaurs and birds. It was not until the description of Epidexipteryx hui in 2008 that an adult specimen was known. In 2023, the discovery of another, larger adult specimen belonging to the species Yi qi showed that scansoriopterygids were not only climbers but also had adaptations that could have been used for gliding flight. The recently discovered (in 2019) Ambopteryx also proves this. The earlier described Pedopenna may also be a member of this clade.[1]
Scansoriopterygids are among the smallest non-avian dinosaurs known. The juvenile specimens of Scansoriopteryx are the size of house sparrows,[2] about 16 cm (6.3 in) long, while the adult type specimen of Epidexipteryx is about the size of a pigeon, about 25 cm (9.8 in) long (not including the tail feathers).[3]
Scansoriopterygids differentiate from other theropod dinosaurs in part by their extremely long third fingers, which were longer than the first and second digits of the hand. In all other known theropods, the second finger is the longest. At least two species, Yi and Ambopteryx, also had a long "styliform" bone growing from the wrist, which, along with the third finger, helped support a bat-like wing membrane used for gliding. This use of a long finger to support a wing membrane is only superficially similar to the wing arrangement in pterosaurs, even though it is physically more bat-like.[4]
Other features shared within the group include short and high skulls with down turned lower jaws and large front teeth, and long arms. Tail length, however, varied significantly among scansoriopterygids. Epidexipteryx had a short tail (70% the length of the torso), anchoring long tail feathers, while Scansoriopteryx had a very long tail (over three times as long as the torso) with a short spray of feathers at the tip. All three described scansoripterygid specimens preserve the fossilized traces of feathers covering their bodies.[2][5][6]
Scansoriopterygidae was created as a family-level taxon by Stephen Czerkas and Yuan Chongxi in 2002. Some scientists, such as Paul Sereno, initially considered the concept redundant because the group was originally monotypic, containing only the single genus and species Scansoriopteryx heilmanni. Additionally, the group lacked a phylogenetic definition.[7] However, in 2008 Zhang et al. reported another scansoriopterygid, Epidexipteryx, and defined Scansoriopterygidae as a clade comprising most recent common ancestor of Epidexipteryx and Epidendrosaurus (=Scansoriopteryx) plus all its descendants.[6]