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Ornithopod
Ornithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (), that started out as small, bipedal running grazers and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful groups of herbivores in the Cretaceous world, dominating the North American land. Their major evolutionary advantage was the progressive development of a chewing apparatus that became the most sophisticated ever developed by a non-avian dinosaur, rivaling that of modern mammals such as the domestic cow. They reached their apex of diversity and ecological dominance in the hadrosaurids (colloquially known as 'duck-bills'), before they were wiped out by the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event along with all other non-avian dinosaurs. Members are known from all seven continents, though they are generally rare in the Southern Hemisphere. History of research In 1870, Thomas Henry Huxley listed Iguanodontidae (coined by Cope a year earlier) as one of his three families of dinosaurs ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is the subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya; their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. Dinosaurs are varied from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. Birds, at over 10,700 living species, are among ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elasmaria
Elasmaria is a clade of ornithopods known from Cretaceous deposits in South America, Antarctica, and Australia that contains many bipedal ornithopods that were previously considered "hypsilophodonts".Madzia, Daniel; Boyd, Clint A.; Mazuch, Martin (2017). "A basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Cenomanian of the Czech Republic". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology: 1–13. doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1371258. Classification Calvo ''et al.'' (2007) coined Elasmaria to accommodate '' Macrogryphosaurus'' and ''Talenkauen'', which they recovered as basal iguanodonts distinct from other iguanodontians in having mineralized plates on the ribs. In 2016, a paper describing the genus ''Morrosaurus'' found Elasmaria to be far larger than its initial contents of two taxa, instead containing a variety of ornithopods from the Southern Hemisphere. In 2019, Matthew C. Herne and colleagues redefined Elasmaria as "all taxa closer to ''Macrogryphosaurus gondwanicus'' and ''Talenkauen santacrucensis'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypsilophodon
''Hypsilophodon'' (; meaning "''Hypsilophus''-tooth") is a neornithischian dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous period of England. It has traditionally been considered an early member of the group Ornithopoda, but recent research has put this into question. The first remains of ''Hypsilophodon'' were found in 1849; the type species, ''Hypsilophodon foxii'', was named in 1869. Abundant fossil discoveries were made on the Isle of Wight, giving a good impression of the build of the species. It was a small, agile bipedal animal with an herbivorous or possibly omnivorous diet, measuring long and weighing . It had a pointed head equipped with a sharp beak used to bite off plant material, much like modern day parrots. Older studies have given rise to a number of misconceptions about ''Hypsilophodon'' that it was an armored, arboreal animal and that it could be found in areas outside of Wight. During the past decades, new researches have gradually shown this to be incorrect. Discov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gideonmantellia
''Gideonmantellia'' is an extinct genus of basal ornithopod dinosaur known from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian stage) Camarillas Formation of Galve, Province of Teruel, Spain. It contains a single species, ''Gideonmantellia amosanjuanae''. Discovery and naming In 1982, amateur palaeontologist José María Herrero Marzo together with his son Jesús uncovered in a loam pit near Galve, the ''Poyales Barranco Canales'' site, the remains of a small euornithopod. In 1987 from this material by José Luis Sanz a left femur and ilium were described, which he referred to ''Hypsilophodon foxii''. In 1995 José Ignacio Ruiz-Omeñaca realised the find represented a separate taxon, after he had further prepared the bones in 1994 and 1995. Ruiz-Omeñaca continued his studies from 1996, as part of his thesis. In 2001 he published a more detailed and complete description, in 2004 reaffirming that a new species had been discovered. In 2006, in his doctoral thesis he named this ''Gideonmantell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thescelosauridae
Thescelosauridae is a clade of neornithischians from the Cretaceous of Asia, North America and possibly South America. The group was originally used as a name by Charles M. Sternberg in 1937, but was not formally defined until 2013, where it was used by Brown and colleagues as the group uniting ''Thescelosaurus'' and ''Orodromeus'', based on their phylogenetic results. During a phylogenetic revision of neornithischians by Clint Boyd in 2015, the authorship of Thescelosauridae was given to Brown and colleagues, which meant that the similar name Parksosauridae, informally defined in 2002 by Buchholz, would have had priority over Thescelosauridae. The two clades had slightly different definitions, with Parksosauridae referring to all animals closer to ''Parksosaurus'' than ''Hypsilophodon'', but they contained the same taxa so Boyd used Parksosauridae under the assumption it had priority. However, in formalizing the clade following the regulations of the PhyloCode, Madzia, Boyd, and c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burianosaurus
''Burianosaurus'' is an extinct genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now the Czech Republic (it was found in 2003 near the city of Kutná Hora), being the first validly named dinosaur from that country. The type species, ''B. augustai'', was named in 2017; the genus name honours the Czech palaeoartist Zdeněk Burian, and the species name honours the Czech palaeontologist Josef Augusta. The holotype specimen is a femur discovered in sediments belonging to the Peruc-Korycany Formation in 2003, which was described as possibly belonging to an iguanodont in 2005. Classification When the fossil was first described in 2005, it was said to be most morphologically similar to Early Cretaceous members of Iguanodontidae, as opposed to later taxa such as ''Rhabdodon''. Madzia ''et al.'' (2017), the study which named the genus, ran two phylogenetic analyses to test the relationships of the taxon. The first, based on the matrix of MacDonald ''et al.'' (2012), found it within th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weewarrasaurus
''Weewarrasaurus'' is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of the Griman Creek Formation near Lightning Ridge, in New South Wales, Australia. The type and only species is ''W. pobeni'', known from the holotype, an isolated preserved in opal, as well as a secondary referred dentary. It is thought to have co-existed with multiple other ornithopods of different sizes and lineages. Discovery and naming The type specimen (the specimen on which the species was first recognised), specimen number LRF 3067, consists of two sections of a jawbone with teeth. It was first discovered in 2013 by miners. They found the specimen in a mine at the Wee Warra geologic locality of the Griman Creek Formation, near the town of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia during a routine mining run, and it was broken during excavation. Opal dealer Mike Poben, from Adelaide, first recognised it as a fossil, after acquiring it in a bag of rough opals received from the miners. The spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Changmiania
''Changmiania'' (from the Chinese "changmian", meaning "eternal sleep") is a genus of basal ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now China during the Early Cretaceous. It contains a single species, ''Changmiania liaoningensis''. Discovery and naming The taxon is represented by two near-complete articulated skeletons: the holotype specimen, PMOL AD00114; and a referred specimen, PMOL LFV022. These remains were discovered in the Barremian age, 123.2 million years old, Lujiatun Beds of the Yixian Formation by local farmers and partially prepared. They were acquired by the Paleontological Museum of Liaoning at Shenyang, which completed the preparation. No indications were found that the fossils had been tampered with by fossil thieves. The perfect life-like positions of these specimens suggest that they were buried alive, possibly in their own burrows. In 2020, the type species ''Changmiania liaoningensis'' was named and described by Yang Yuqing, Wu Wenhao, Paul-Emile Dieudo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convolosaurus
''Convolosaurus'' (, meaning "flocking lizard" after the concentration of juvenile fossils found) is a genus of basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Twin Mountains Formation from Proctor Lake in Comanche County, Texas. The type and only species is ''Convolosaurus marri''. Discovery and naming In May 1985, James "Rusty" Branch at the Proctor Lake in Comanche County, Texas, discovered a dinosaur fossil site which was among the richest from the Lower Cretaceous of North America. The Shuler Museum of Paleontology, part of the Southern Methodist University at Dallas, excavated a large number of specimens on the southeastern bank of the lake, in the Camp Quarry and the North Quarry. The discovery was in 1988 reported in the scientific literature. Remains found were combined into three mounted skeletons displayed at respectively the Proctor Lake US Army Corps of Engineers Office at Proctor (based on specimen SMU 70456), the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, (a composite of specimen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasaurolophus
''Parasaurolophus'' (; meaning "near crested lizard" in reference to '' Saurolophus)'' is a genus of herbivorous hadrosaurid ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now North America and possibly Asia during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 76.5–73 million years ago. It was a herbivore that walked both as a biped and as a quadruped. Three species are universally recognized: ''P. walkeri'' (the type species), ''P. tubicen'', and the short-crested ''P. cyrtocristatus''. Additionally, a fourth species, ''P. jiayinensis'', has been proposed, although it is more commonly placed in the separate genus ''Charonosaurus''. Remains are known from Alberta (Canada), New Mexico and Utah (United States), and possibly Heilongjiang (China). The genus was first described in 1922 by William Parks from a skull and partial skeleton found in Alberta. ''Parasaurolophus'' was a hadrosaurid, part of a diverse family of Cretaceous dinosaurs known for their range of bizarre head adornments wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithischia
Ornithischia () is an extinct order of mainly herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by a pelvic structure superficially similar to that of birds. The name ''Ornithischia'', or "bird-hipped", reflects this similarity and is derived from the Greek stem ' (), meaning "of a bird", and ' (), plural ', meaning "hip joint". However, birds are only distantly related to this group as birds are theropod dinosaurs. Ornithischians with well known anatomical adaptations include the ceratopsians or "horn-faced" dinosaurs (e.g. ''Triceratops''), the pachycephalosaurs or "thick-headed" dinosaurs, the armored dinosaurs (Thyreophora) such as stegosaurs and ankylosaurs, and the ornithopods. There is strong evidence that certain groups of ornithischians lived in herds, often segregated by age group, with juveniles forming their own flocks separate from adults. Some were at least partially covered in filamentous (hair- or feather- like) pelts, and there is much debate over whether these filaments fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iguanodontia
Iguanodontia (the iguanodonts) is a clade of herbivorous dinosaurs that lived from the Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. Some members include ''Camptosaurus'', ''Dryosaurus'', ''Iguanodon'', ''Tenontosaurus'', and the hadrosaurids or "duck-billed dinosaurs". Iguanodontians were one of the first groups of dinosaurs to be found. They are among the best known of the dinosaurs, and were among the most diverse and widespread herbivorous dinosaur groups of the Cretaceous period. Classification Iguanodontia is often listed as an infraorder within a suborder Ornithopoda, though Benton (2004) lists Ornithopoda as an infraorder and does not rank Iguanodontia. Traditionally, iguanodontians were grouped into the superfamily Iguanodontoidea and family Iguanodontidae. However, phylogenetic studies show that the traditional "iguanodontids" are a paraphyletic grade leading up to the hadrosaurs (duck-billed dinosaurs). Groups like Iguanodontoidea are sometimes still used as unranked clades ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
