Ornithopoda

Ornithopods
Temporal range: Middle Jurassic - Late Cretaceous, 164–66 Ma
Seven archetypal ornithopods (top left to bottom right): Ouranosaurus, Tenontosaurus (background) with Convolosaurus (foreground), Muttaburrasaurus, Edmontosaurus annectens, Dryosaurus altus, Corythosaurus casuarius
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia
Clade: Neornithischia
Clade: Cerapoda
Clade: Ornithopoda
Marsh, 1881
Subgroups
Possible members
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.

  1. ^ Madzia, D.; Arbour, V.M.; Boyd, C.A.; Farke, A.A.; Cruzado-Caballero, P.; Evans, D.C. (2021). "The phylogenetic nomenclature of ornithischian dinosaurs". PeerJ. 9: e12362. doi:10.7717/peerj.12362. PMC 8667728. PMID 34966571.
  2. ^ "Ornithopoda". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
  3. ^ "ornithopod". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021.
  4. ^ "ornithopod". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.