Ornithopods Temporal range: Middle Jurassic - Late Cretaceous,
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Seven archetypal ornithopods (top left to bottom right): Ouranosaurus, Tenontosaurus (background) with Convolosaurus (foreground), Muttaburrasaurus, Edmontosaurus annectens, Dryosaurus altus, Corythosaurus casuarius | |||
Scientific classification | |||
Domain: | Eukaryota | ||
Kingdom: | Animalia | ||
Phylum: | Chordata | ||
Clade: | Dinosauria | ||
Clade: | †Ornithischia | ||
Clade: | †Neornithischia | ||
Clade: | †Cerapoda | ||
Clade: | †Ornithopoda Marsh, 1881 | ||
Subgroups | |||
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Synonyms[1] | |||
Ornithopoda (/ˌɔːrnəˈθɒpədə/)[2] is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (/ˈɔːrnəθəˌpɒdz, ɔːrˈnɪθ-/).[3][4] They represent one of the most successful groups of herbivorous dinosaurs during the Cretaceous. The most primitive members of the group were bipedal and relatively small-sized, while advanced members of the subgroup Iguanodontia became quadrupedal and developed large body size. 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 worldwide.