dinosauriform

Classification

Dinosauriformes was coined in 1992 by F.E. Novas, who used it to encompass dinosaurs, Lagosuchus, "Pseudolagosuchus" (=Lewisuchus), and the herrerasaurids, which he did not consider to be "eudinosaurs" (true dinosaurs like ornithischians and saurischians). Contrary to Novas, most paleontologists since 1992 have considered herrerasaurids to be true dinosaurs, though many other dinosaur-like reptiles still fall within his definition of Dinosauriformes. Novas (1992) defined Dinosauriformes as a node-based clade containing the most recent common ancestor of Lagosuchus and Dinosauria, and all its descendants. Nesbitt (2011) provided a roughly equivalent definition, using Marasuchus and Passer domesticus (the house sparrow, a representative of dinosaurs). In his analysis, Dinosauriformes included dinosaurs, silesaurids, and Marasuchus, but not lagerpetids, which were considered to be an earlier-branching family of dinosauromorphs.