A cladistic analysis by Xu and his team showed that "Xiaotingia" formed a clade with "Archaeopteryx", the Dromaeosauridae and the Troodontidae. This clade excludes other birds. They therefore (re)defined the concepts of Deinonychosauria and Avialae so "Archaeopteryx" and "Xiaotingia" belonged to the Deinonychosauria and "Archaeopteryx" no longer was an avian (bird). This led to popular reports that ""Archaeopteryx" is no longer a bird". 