page_title: Sinovenator
section_title: Phylogeny
hierarchical_section_title: Sinovenator / Phylogeny
caption_attribution_description: Sinovenator specimen IVPP V14322.
context_page_description: Sinovenator is a genus of troodontid dinosaur from China. It is from the early Cretaceous Period.
context_section_description: In 2002 Sinovenator was  placed in the Troodontidae.
  Sinovenator is a basal or "primitive" troodontid, and shares features with the most basal dromaeosaurids and Avialae. It thus was one of the first fossil specimens conclusively demonstrating the close relation of these three groups in the overarching Paraves. A typical basal trait is the orientation of the pubic bone to the rear, similar to the situation in the Dromaeosauridae and basal birds. This proves that the orientation to the front with later troodontids, is a reversal and not a trait directly inherited from older theropods that also possess a forward pointing pubic bone. Another basal character is the lack of a bulla, a swollen region on the underside of the braincase. This indicates that the similar bulla with the Ornithomimosauria presents a case of parallel evolution and is not a proof for a Bullatosauria, an earlier presumed close relationship between troodontids and ornithomimosaurs.
  Originally, the basal position of Sinovenator seemed to be corroborated by a very high age, the fossils being assumed to date from the Hauterivian. Later research however, indicated that the layers were younger.
  In 2017, a study by Shen et al., describing the genus Daliansaurus found Sinovenator to form a monophyletic group with other troodontids from the Yixian Formation, named Sinovenatorinae. A wide, flattened fourth metatarsal was found to be a synapomorphy uniting this group. The study recovered the following cladogram:
  A 2018 study by Yin et al. instead found the Chinese troodontids to form an intermediate grade:
caption: Specimen IVPP V14322
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