孔子鸟科由侯连海等人(Hou et al.)於1995年命名,包含模式属孔子鸟属,并被划分至鸟纲孔子鸟目。[2]这一类群由Chiappe於1999年给出了种系发生学定义,他将基於节点的分支孔子鳥科(Confuciusornithidae)定义为只包含长城鸟和孔子鸟的一科。[3]Sereno这一定义扩大,将所有亲缘关系与圣贤孔子鸟(Confuciusornis sanctus)更近、与家麻雀(Passer domesticus)相对较远的物种都包含在孔子鸟科中。[4]锦州鸟由侯连海、周忠和及张福成於2002年被加至孔子鳥科[5],而始孔子鸟由张福成、周忠和及迈克尔·本顿於2008年被归入孔子鳥科。[6]
^ 6.06.1Zhang, F. -C., Zhou, Z. -H., & Benton, M. J. (2008)
参考文献
Chiappe, Luis M.; Shu-An, Ji; Qiang, Ji; Norell, Mark A. Anatomy and systematics of the Confuciusornithidae (Theropoda:Aves) from the Late Mesozoic of northeastern China. Bulletin of the American museum of Natural History. 1999, 242: 89.
Hou, L.; Zhou, Z.; Gu, Y.; Zhang, H. Description of Confuciusornis sanctus. Chinese Science Bulletin. 1995, 10: 61–63.
Hou, L. H.; Zhou, Z. H.; Zhang, F. C.; et. al. Mesozoic Birds from Western Liaoning in China. Shenyang, China: Liaoning Science and Technology Publishing House. 2002.
Zhang, F. -C.; Zhou, Z. -H.; Benton, M. J. A primitive confuciusornithid bird from China and its implications for early avian flight.. Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences. 2008, 51 (5): 625–639.