Archaeopteryx suggested that "Archaeopteryx" was a dinosaur that was no more closely related to birds than were other dinosaur groups. Kurzanov (1987) suggested that "Avimimus" was more likely to be the ancestor of all birds than "Archaeopteryx". Barsbold (1983) and Zweers and Van den Berge (1997) noted that many maniraptoran lineages are extremely birdlike, and they suggested that different groups of birds may have descended from different dinosaur ancestors. The discovery of the closely related "Xiaotingia" in 2011 led to new phylogenetic analyses that suggested that "Archaeopteryx" is a deinonychosaur rather than an avialan, and therefore, not a "bird" under most
Archaeopteryx be related particularly closely to "Anchiornis" and "Xiaotingia", which were recovered as basal troodontids instead. Agnolín and Novas (2013) found "Archaeopteryx" and (possibly synonymous) "Wellnhoferia" to be the basalmost avialans (Avialae being defined by the authors as including "Archaeopteryx lithographica" and "Passer", their most recent common ancestor and all of its descendants), with Microraptoria, Unenlagiinae, and the clade containing "Anchiornis" and "Xiaotingia" being successively closer outgroups to the Avialae. Another phylogenetic study by Godefroit, "et al.", using a more inclusive matrix than the one from the analysis in the description of "Eosinopteryx brevipenna", also found "Archaeopteryx" to be a member