Is cauditpteryx an oviraptor

Q: I was wondering whether caudipteryx was an oviraptor or an early branch of the coelurosaurs. On slide 66 in lecture 17, caudipteryx is drawn in before tyrannosaurids but in lecture notes 17, it says that caudipteryx is an oviraptor, which would put it in the dromosaur branch right?

A: Good catch! Yes caudipteryx even moves around the tree within that one lecture! Theropod phylogeny is highly debated and as new evidence emerges there are often changes. For caudipteryx there are two levels of confusion. It was originally proposed to be part of a sister group to the birds, but was later widely recognized to be an oviraptor. Oviraptors themselves were thought to be ornithomimids but are now placed within the maniraptor clade. My apologies for not having that updated in the birds lecture. Although, I would not test on this of course and it does give you a taste of the ephemeral reality of some parts of the tree.

Q: on the note about caudipteryx, I was wondering if you could further clarify something for me - I was studying by looking at the cladogram for feather evolution and so am now wondering whether caudipteryx is still seen as an example of stage 2-4 evolution of feathers. If they're placed in the maniraptor clade, then does that mean that the stage 2-4 evolution of feathers came after the ornithomimid clade and so around the same time as the evolution of stage 5 feathers?

A: Another great question! The phylogeny (branching order) within the maniraptors is unclear but I think there are a few reasons to believe that on the way up to birds, the lineage leading to caudipteryx branched off before the lineage leading to microraptor, and so the argument still holds. The fact that the theropod phylogeny is so uncertain, especially for the feathered dinosaurs, is admittedly a weakness of the claims for the specific stages of feather evolution.