Dinosaur classification
Encyclopedia
Iguanodon
Iguanodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived roughly halfway between the first of the swift bipedal hypsilophodontids and the ornithopods' culmination in the duck-billed dinosaurs...
, Megalosaurus
Megalosaurus
Megalosaurus is a genus of large meat-eating theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic period of Europe...
, and Hylaeosaurus
Hylaeosaurus
Hylaeosaurus is the most obscure of the three animals used by Sir Richard Owen to first define the new group Dinosauria, in 1842. The original specimen, recovered by Gideon Mantell from the Tilgate Forest in the south of England in 1832, now resides in the Natural History Museum of London, where...
in "a distinct tribe or suborder of Saurian Reptiles, for which I would propose the name of Dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
ia." In 1887 and 1888 Harry Seeley
Harry Seeley
Harry Govier Seeley was a British paleontologist.-Career:Seeley was born in London, the son of Richard Hovill Seeley, goldsmith, and his second wife Mary Govier. He attended classes at the Royal School of Mines, Kensington before becoming an assistant to Adam Sedgwick at the Woodwardian Museum,...
divided dinosaurs into the two orders Saurischia
Saurischia
Saurischia meaning 'lizard' and ischion meaning 'hip joint') is one of the two orders, or basic divisions, of dinosaurs. In 1888, Harry Seeley classified dinosaurs into two orders, based on their hip structure...
and Ornithischia
Ornithischia
Ornithischia or Predentata is an extinct order of beaked, herbivorous dinosaurs. The name ornithischia is derived from the Greek ornitheos meaning 'of a bird' and ischion meaning 'hip joint'...
, based on their hip structure. These divisions have proved remarkably enduring, even through several seismic changes in the taxonomy
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
of dinosaurs.
The largest change was prompted by entomologist Willi Hennig
Willi Hennig
Emil Hans Willi Hennig was a German biologist who is considered the founder of phylogenetic systematics, also known as cladistics. With his works on evolution and systematics he revolutionised the view of the natural order of beings...
's work in the 1950s, which evolved into modern cladistics
Cladistics
Cladistics is a method of classifying species of organisms into groups called clades, which consist of an ancestor organism and all its descendants . For example, birds, dinosaurs, crocodiles, and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor form a clade...
. For specimens known only from fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s, the rigorous analysis of characters
Synapomorphy
In cladistics, a synapomorphy or synapomorphic character is a trait that is shared by two or more taxa and their most recent common ancestor, whose ancestor in turn does not possess the trait. A synapomorphy is thus an apomorphy visible in multiple taxa, where the trait in question originates in...
to determine evolutionary relationships between different groups of animals (clades) proved incredibly useful. When computer-based analysis using cladistics came into its own in the 1990s, paleontologists
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
became among the first zoologists
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
to almost wholeheartedly adopt the system. Progressive scrutiny and work upon dinosaurian interrelationships, with the aid of new discoveries that have shed light on previously uncertain relationships between taxa, have begun to yield a stabilizing classification since the mid-2000s. While cladistics is the predominant classificatory system among paleontology professionals, the Linnean system is still in use, especially in works intended for popular distribution.
Benton classification
As most dinosaur paleontologists have advocated a shift away from traditional, ranked Linnaean taxonomyLinnaean taxonomy
Linnaean taxonomy can mean either of two related concepts:# the particular form of biological classification set up by Carl Linnaeus, as set forth in his Systema Naturæ and subsequent works...
in favor of rankless phylogentic systems, few ranked taxonomies of dinosaurs have been published since the 1980s. The following schema is among the most recent, from the third edition of Vertebrate Palaeontology
Vertebrate Palaeontology (Benton)
Vertebrate Palaeontology is a basic textbook on vertebrate paleontology by Michael J. Benton, published by Blackwell's. It has so far appeared in three editions, published in 1990, 1997, and 2005...
, a respected undergraduate textbook. While it is structured so as to reflect evolutionary relationships (similar to a cladogram
Cladistics
Cladistics is a method of classifying species of organisms into groups called clades, which consist of an ancestor organism and all its descendants . For example, birds, dinosaurs, crocodiles, and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor form a clade...
), it also retains the traditional ranks used in Linnaean taxonomy. The classification has been updated from the second edition in 2000 to reflect new research, but remains fundamentally conservative.
Benton classifies all dinosaurs within the Series Amniota, Class Sauropsida
Sauropsida
Sauropsida is a group of amniotes that includes all existing reptiles and birds and their fossil ancestors, including the dinosaurs, the immediate ancestors of birds...
, Subclass Diapsida, Infraclass Archosauromorpha
Archosauromorpha
Archosauromorpha is an infraclass of diapsid reptiles that first appeared during the late Permian and became more common during the Triassic. Included in this infraclass are the groups Rhynchosauria, Trilophosauridae, Prolacertiformes, Archosauriformes, and, tentatively, Choristodera...
, Division Archosaur
Archosaur
Archosaurs are a group of diapsid amniotes whose living representatives consist of modern birds and crocodilians. This group also includes all extinct non-avian dinosaurs, many extinct crocodilian relatives, and pterosaurs. Archosauria, the archosaur clade, is a crown group that includes the most...
ia, Subdivision Avemetatarsalia
Avemetatarsalia
Avemetatarsalia is a clade name established by British palaeontologist Michael Benton in 1999 for all crown group archosaurs that are closer to birds than to crocodiles. It includes a similarly defined subgroup, Ornithodira...
, Infradivision Ornithodira, and Superorder Dinosauria. Dinosauria is then divided into the two traditional orders, Saurischia
Saurischia
Saurischia meaning 'lizard' and ischion meaning 'hip joint') is one of the two orders, or basic divisions, of dinosaurs. In 1888, Harry Seeley classified dinosaurs into two orders, based on their hip structure...
and Ornithischia
Ornithischia
Ornithischia or Predentata is an extinct order of beaked, herbivorous dinosaurs. The name ornithischia is derived from the Greek ornitheos meaning 'of a bird' and ischion meaning 'hip joint'...
. The cross (†) is used to indicate taxa with no living members.
Order Saurischia
- Suborder TheropodaTheropodaTheropoda is both a suborder of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs, and a clade consisting of that suborder and its descendants . Dinosaurs belonging to the suborder theropoda were primarily carnivorous, although a number of theropod groups evolved herbivory, omnivory, and insectivory...
- †Infraorder Herrerasauria
- †Infraorder CoelophysoideaCoelophysoideaCoelophysoids were common dinosaurs of the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods. They were widespread geographically, probably living on all continents. Coelophysoids were all slender, carnivorous forms with a superficial similarity to the coelurosaurs, with which they were formerly...
- †Infraorder CeratosauriaCeratosauriaCeratosaurs are members of a group of theropod dinosaurs defined as all theropods sharing a more recent common ancestry with Ceratosaurus than with birds. There is presently no universally agreed upon listing of species or diagnostic characters of Ceratosauria, though they were less derived...
- †Family CeratosauridaeCeratosauridaeCeratosauridae is a family of theropod dinosaurs belonging to the infraorder Ceratosauria. Its type genus, Ceratosaurus, was first found in Jurassic rocks from North America. Ceratosauridae is made up of Ceratosaurus, found in North America, Tanzania, and Portugal, and Genyodectes, from the Late...
- †Family AbelisauridaeAbelisauridaeAbelisauridae is a family of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Abelisaurids thrived during the Cretaceous Period, on the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana, and today their fossil remains are found on the modern continents of Africa and South America, as well as on the Indian...
- †Family Ceratosauridae
- Infraorder TetanuraeTetanuraeTetanurae, or "stiff tails", is a clade that includes most theropod dinosaurs, as well as birds. Tetanurans first appear during the early or middle Jurassic Period.-Definition:...
- †Division CarnosauriaCarnosauriaCarnosauria is a group of large predatory dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. While it originally contained a wide assortment of giant theropods that were not closely related, the group has since been defined to encompass only the allosaurs and their closest kin...
- †Sudivision Spinosauroidea
- †Family Megalosauridae
- †Family SpinosauridaeSpinosauridaeSpinosauridae is a family of specialised theropod dinosaurs. Members of this family were large, bipedal predators with elongated, crocodile-like skulls, sporting conical teeth with no or only very tiny serrations. The front dentary teeth fanned out, giving the animal a characteristic look...
- †Subdivision AllosauroideaAllosauroideaAllosauroidea is a superfamily or clade of theropod dinosaurs which contains four families — the Sinraptoridae, Allosauridae, Carcharodontosauridae, and Neovenatoridae...
- †Family Allosauridae
- †Family CarcharodontosauridaeCarcharodontosauridaeCarcharodontosaurids were a group of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. In 1931 Ernst Stromer named Carcharodontosauridae as a family, in modern paleontology this name indicates a clade within Carnosauria...
- †Sudivision Spinosauroidea
- Division CoelurosauriaCoelurosauriaCoelurosauria is the clade containing all theropod dinosaurs more closely related to birds than to carnosaurs. In the past, it was used to refer to all small theropods, although this classification has been abolished...
- †Family CoeluridaeCoeluridaeCoeluridae is a historically polyphyletic family of generally small, carnivorous dinosaurs from the late Jurassic Period...
- Subdivision ManiraptoriformesManiraptoriformesManiraptoriformes is a clade of dinosaurs that contains ornithomimosaurs and maniraptors. This group was named by Thomas Holtz, who defined it as "the most recent common ancestor of Ornithomimus and birds, and all descendants of that common ancestor."...
- †Family TyrannosauridaeTyrannosauridaeTyrannosauridae is a family of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs which comprises two subfamilies containing up to six genera, including the eponymous Tyrannosaurus. The exact number of genera is controversial, with some experts recognizing as few as three...
- †Family Ornithomimidae
- Infradivision ManiraptoraManiraptoraManiraptora is a clade of coelurosaurian dinosaurs which includes the birds and the dinosaurs that were more closely related to them than to Ornithomimus velox. It contains the major subgroups Avialae, Deinonychosauria, Oviraptorosauria and Therizinosauria. Ornitholestes and the Alvarezsauroidea...
- †Family AlvarezsauridaeAlvarezsauridaeAlvarezsauridae is an enigmatic family of small, long-legged running dinosaurs. Although originally thought to represent the earliest known flightless birds, a consensus of recent work suggests that they are primitive members of the Maniraptora. Other work found them to be the sister group to the...
- †Family TherizinosauridaeTherizinosauridaeTherizinosauridae is a family of advanced herbivorous or omnivorous theropod dinosaurs. Therizinosaurid fossil remains have been recovered from mid-late Cretaceous Period deposits from Mongolia, China, and the United States.-Classification:...
- †Cohort DeinonychosauriaDeinonychosauriaThe Deinonychosauria were a clade of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. These omnivores and carnivores are known for their switchblade-like second toe claws and for displaying numerous bird-like characteristics. The clade has been divided into two...
- †Family TroodontidaeTroodontidaeTroodontidae is a family of bird-like theropod dinosaurs. During most of the 20th century, troodontid fossils were few and scrappy and they have therefore been allied, at various times, with many dinosaurian lineages...
- †Family DromaeosauridaeDromaeosauridaeDromaeosauridae is a family of bird-like theropod dinosaurs. They were small- to medium-sized feathered carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period. The name Dromaeosauridae means 'running lizards', from Greek dromeus meaning 'runner' and sauros meaning 'lizard'...
- Class Aves
- †Family Troodontidae
- †Family Alvarezsauridae
- †Family Tyrannosauridae
- †Family Coeluridae
- †Division Carnosauria
- †Suborder SauropodomorphaSauropodomorphaSauropodomorpha is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs which includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal, and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. The...
- †ThecodontosaurusThecodontosaurusThecodontosaurus is a genus of herbivorous basal sauropodomorph dinosaur which lived during the late Triassic period ....
- †Family PlateosauridaePlateosauridaePlateosauridae is a family of plateosaurian sauropodomorphs. Plateosaurids were early sauropodomorph dinosaurs which existed in Asia, Europe and South America during the Late Triassic period. Although several dinosaurs have been classified as plateosaurids over the years, a 2007 study by Adam M....
- †RiojasaurusRiojasaurusRiojasaurus was a herbivorous prosauropod dinosaur named after La Rioja Province in Argentina where it was found by José Bonaparte. It lived during the Late Triassic and grew to about long. Riojasaurus is the only known riojasaurid to live in South America.-Description:Riojasaurus had a heavy...
- †Family MassospondylidaeMassospondylidaeMassospondylidae is a family of massopod sauropodomorphs. Massospondylids are early sauropodomorph dinosaurs which existed in Asia, Africa and South America during the Late Triassic to the Early Jurassic periods...
- †Infraorder SauropodaSauropodaSauropoda , or the sauropods , are an infraorder of saurischian dinosaurs. They had long necks, long tails, small heads , and thick, pillar-like legs. They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land...
- †Family VulcanodontidaeVulcanodontidaeThe Early Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs Zizhongosaurus, Barapasaurus, Tazoudasaurus, and Vulcanodon may form a natural group of basal sauropods called the Vulcanodontidae. Basal vulcanodonts include some of the earliest known examples of sauropods. The family-level name Vulcanodontidae was erected by...
- †Family OmeisauridaeOmeisauridaeOmeisauridae is a family of sauropods. Wilson, when naming the family in 2002, included Omeisaurus and Mamenchisaurus, but if Mamenchisaurus is included, Mamenchisauridae has priority, as it was named in 1972...
- †Division NeosauropodaNeosauropodaNeosauropoda is a division-level clade of sauropods within Dinosauria, and consists of the group leading to Diplodocoidea and Macronaria. Haplocanthosaurus was a typical basal neosauropod from around 150 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic...
- †Family Cetiosauridae
- †Family Diplodocidae
- †Subdivision MacronariaMacronariaMacronaria is a clade of sauropod dinosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous Periods of what are now North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The name means 'large nostrils' , in reference to the large nasal openings high on the head that probably supported fleshy...
- †Family Camarasauridae
- †Infradivision Titanosauriformes
- †Family BrachiosauridaeBrachiosauridaeBrachiosauridae are a family of dinosaurs, whose members are known as brachiosaurids. They were herbivorous quadrupeds with longer forelegs than hind legs - the name derives from the Greek for arm lizard - and long necks...
- †Cohort Somphospondyli
- †Family EuhelopodidaeEuhelopodidaeEuhelopodidae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs which includes the genus Euhelopus. The family name was first proposed by American paleontologist Alfred Sherwood Romer in 1956. The four genera Chiayusaurus, Omeisaurus, Tienshanosaurus, and Euhelopus were the original proposed euhelopodines...
- †Family Titanosauridae
- †Family Euhelopodidae
- †Family Brachiosauridae
- †Family Vulcanodontidae
- †Thecodontosaurus
†Order Ornithischia
- †Family Pisanosauridae
- †Family FabrosauridaeFabrosauridaeThe Fabrosauridae was originally proposed by Galton , as a group of basal ornithischian dinosaurs from the Early to Middle Jurassic. However, recent studies indicate the Fabrosaurs are not a natural grouping of dinosaurs, and instead consist of unrelated genera.The proposed "Fabrosaurs" descended...
- †Suborder ThyreophoraThyreophoraThe Thyreophora were a subgroup of the ornithischian dinosaurs...
- †Family Scelidosauridae
- †Infraorder StegosauriaStegosauriaKnown colloquially as stegosaurs, the Stegosauria are a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous Periods, being found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, predominantly in what is now North America and China....
- †Infraorder AnkylosauriaAnkylosauriaAnkylosauria is a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the order Ornithischia. It includes the great majority of dinosaurs with armor in the form of bony osteoderms. Ankylosaurs were bulky quadrupeds, with short, powerful limbs. They are first known to have appeared in the early Jurassic Period of...
- †Family NodosauridaeNodosauridaeNodosauridae is a family of ankylosaurian dinosaurs, from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous Period of what are now North America, Asia, Antarctica and Europe.-Characteristics:...
- †Family AnkylosauridaeAnkylosauridaeAn ankylosaurid is a member of the Ankylosauridae family of armored dinosaurs that evolved 125 million years ago and became extinct 65 million years ago during the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event...
- †Family Nodosauridae
- †Suborder CerapodaCerapodaNeornithischia is a clade of the dinosaur order Ornithischia. They are the sister group of the Thyreophora within the clade Genasauria. Neornithischians are united by having a thicker layer of asymmetrical enamel on the inside of their lower teeth...
- †Infraorder PachycephalosauriaPachycephalosauriaPachycephalosauria is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs. Well-known genera include Pachycephalosaurus, Stegoceras, Stygimoloch, and Dracorex. Most lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, in what is now North America and Asia. They were all bipedal, herbivorous/omnivorous animals with thick skulls...
- †Infraorder CeratopsiaCeratopsiaCeratopsia or Ceratopia is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs which thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. The earliest known ceratopsian, Yinlong downsi, lived between 161.2 and 155.7...
- †Family PsittacosauridaePsittacosauridaeThe Psittacosauridae were a group of ceratopsian dinosaurs, which lived between 140.2 and 99.6 million years ago. The family Psittacosauridae was first named by American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1923...
- †Family Protoceratopsidae
- †Family CeratopsidaeCeratopsidaeCeratopsidae is a speciose group of marginocephalian dinosaurs including Triceratops and Styracosaurus...
- †Family Psittacosauridae
- †Infraorder Ornithopoda
- †Family HeterodontosauridaeHeterodontosauridaeHeterodontosauridae is a family of early ornithischian dinosaurs that were likely among the most basal members of the group...
- †Family Hypsilophodontidae
- †Family Iguanodontidae *
- †Family Hadrosauridae
- †Family Heterodontosauridae
- †Infraorder Pachycephalosauria
Weishampel/Dodson/Osmólska classification
The following is based on the second edition of The Dinosauria, a compilation of articles by experts in the field that provided the most comprehensive coverage of Dinosauria available when it was first published in 1990. The second edition updates and revises that work.The cladogram and phylogenetic definitions below reflect the current understanding of evolutionary relationships. The taxa and symbols in parentheses after a given taxa define these relationships. The plus symbol ("+") between taxa indicates the given taxa is a node-based clade, defined as comprising all descendants of the last common ancestor of the "added" taxa. The greater-than symbol (">") indicates the given taxon is a stem-based taxon, comprising all organisms sharing a common ancestor that is not also an ancestor of the "lesser" taxon.
Saurischia
(TyrannosaurusTyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
/Allosaurus
Allosaurus
Allosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic period . The name Allosaurus means "different lizard". It is derived from the Greek /allos and /sauros...
> Triceratops
Triceratops
Triceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, around 68 to 65 million years ago in what is now North America. It was one of the last dinosaur genera to appear before the great Cretaceous–Paleogene...
/Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus is a genus of armored stegosaurid dinosaur. They lived during the Late Jurassic period , some 155 to 150 million years ago in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, showing that they were present in Europe as well...
)
- Herrerasauria (HerrerasaurusHerrerasaurusHerrerasaurus was one of the earliest dinosaurs. All known specimens of this carnivore have been discovered in rocks of late Ladinian age in northwestern Argentina...
> Liliensternus, PlateosaurusPlateosaurusPlateosaurus is a genus of plateosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, around 216 to 199 million years ago, in what is now Central and Northern Europe. Plateosaurus is a basal sauropodomorph dinosaur, a so-called "prosauropod"...
)- HerrerasauridaeHerrerasauridaeHerrerasaurids are among the oldest known dinosaurs, appearing in the fossil record 231.4 million years ago . They became extinct by the end of the Triassic period. Herrerasaurids were small-sized carnivorous theropods or basal saurischians...
(Herrerasaurus + StaurikosaurusStaurikosaurusStaurikosaurus is a genus of herrerasaurid dinosaur from the Late Triassic of Brazil.-Discovery:The first known specimen of Staurikosaurus was recovered from the Paleontological Site Jazigo Cinco of the Santa Maria Formation in the geopark of paleorrota , Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil...
)
- Herrerasauridae
- ? EoraptorEoraptorEoraptor was one of the world's earliest dinosaurs. It was a two-legged saurischian, close to the ancestry of theropods and sauropodomorphs. It lived ca. 231.4 million years ago, in what is now the northwestern region of Argentina...
lunensis - SauropodomorphaSauropodomorphaSauropodomorpha is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs which includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal, and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. The...
(SaltasaurusSaltasaurusSaltasaurus is a genus of titanosaurid sauropod dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous Period. Relatively small among sauropods, though still massive by the standards of modern creatures, Saltasaurus was characterized by a diplodocid-like head...
> TheropodaTheropodaTheropoda is both a suborder of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs, and a clade consisting of that suborder and its descendants . Dinosaurs belonging to the suborder theropoda were primarily carnivorous, although a number of theropod groups evolved herbivory, omnivory, and insectivory...
)- ? SaturnaliaSaturnalia (dinosaur)Saturnalia is an extinct genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur known from the Triassic of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil.-Discovery:Saturnalia was originally named on the basis of three partial skeletons...
tupiniquim - ? Thecodontosauridae
- Prosauropoda (PlateosaurusPlateosaurusPlateosaurus is a genus of plateosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, around 216 to 199 million years ago, in what is now Central and Northern Europe. Plateosaurus is a basal sauropodomorph dinosaur, a so-called "prosauropod"...
> SauropodaSauropodaSauropoda , or the sauropods , are an infraorder of saurischian dinosaurs. They had long necks, long tails, small heads , and thick, pillar-like legs. They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land...
)- ? Thecodontosauridae
- ? AnchisauriaAnchisauriaThe Anchisauria were a clade of sauropodomorph dinosaurs which lived during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. The name Anchisauria was first used by Galton and Upchurch in the second edition of The Dinosauria...
(AnchisaurusAnchisaurusAnchisaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph, and was an early herbivorous dinosaur. Until recently it was classed as a member of Prosauropoda. The name comes from the Greek αγχι/agkhi...
+ MelanorosaurusMelanorosaurusMelanorosaurus , is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period. A herbivore from South Africa, it had a large body and sturdy limbs, suggesting it moved about on all fours...
)- ? AnchisauridaeAnchisauridaeThe Anchisauridae were a group of early sauropodomorph dinosaurs first proposed by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1885. The clade consists of Anchisaurus and its nearest relatives. However, it is not clear which other genera are included in the family; many of the dinosaurs once included have since been...
(Anchisaurus > Melanorosaurus) - ? MelanorosauridaeMelanorosauridaeThe Melanorosauridae were a family of sauropodomorph dinosaurs which lived during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. The name Melanorosauridae was first coined by Friedrich von Huene in 1929. Huene assigned several families of dinosaurs to the infraorder Prosauropoda: the Anchisauridae, the...
(Melanorosaurus > Anchisaurus)
- ? Anchisauridae
- PlateosauriaPlateosauriaPlateosauria is a clade of sauropodomorph dinosaurs which lived during the Late Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. The name Plateosauria was first coined by Gustav Tornier in 1913. The name afterwards fell out of use until the 1980s, when a new generation of paleontologists began using the name...
(JingshanosaurusJingshanosaurusJingshanosaurus is a genus of prosauropod dinosaurs from the Early Jurassic. Its fossils, a nearly complete skeleton including the skull, were found near the town of Jingshan , Lufeng County, Yunnan Province, China, from which the name derives. First described in 1995, the type species is J....
+ Plateosaurus)- MassospondylidaeMassospondylidaeMassospondylidae is a family of massopod sauropodomorphs. Massospondylids are early sauropodomorph dinosaurs which existed in Asia, Africa and South America during the Late Triassic to the Early Jurassic periods...
- YunnanosauridaeYunnanosaurusYunnanosaurus is a genus of prosauropod dinosaur from the Early to Middle Jurassic Period, a position in time that makes it one of the last prosauropods. It is closely related to Lufengosaurus...
- PlateosauridaePlateosauridaePlateosauridae is a family of plateosaurian sauropodomorphs. Plateosaurids were early sauropodomorph dinosaurs which existed in Asia, Europe and South America during the Late Triassic period. Although several dinosaurs have been classified as plateosaurids over the years, a 2007 study by Adam M....
(
MassospondylusMassospondylus and ) is a genus of prosauropod dinosaur from the early Jurassic Period . It was described by Sir Richard Owen in 1854 from remains found in South Africa, and is thus one of the first dinosaurs to have been named...
) - Massospondylidae
- ? Saturnalia
- SauropodaSauropodaSauropoda , or the sauropods , are an infraorder of saurischian dinosaurs. They had long necks, long tails, small heads , and thick, pillar-like legs. They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land...
(Saltasaurus > Plateosaurus)- ? AnchisauridaeAnchisauridaeThe Anchisauridae were a group of early sauropodomorph dinosaurs first proposed by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1885. The clade consists of Anchisaurus and its nearest relatives. However, it is not clear which other genera are included in the family; many of the dinosaurs once included have since been...
- ? MelanorosauridaeMelanorosauridaeThe Melanorosauridae were a family of sauropodomorph dinosaurs which lived during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. The name Melanorosauridae was first coined by Friedrich von Huene in 1929. Huene assigned several families of dinosaurs to the infraorder Prosauropoda: the Anchisauridae, the...
- BlikanasauridaeBlikanasauridaeThe Blikanasauridae were a group of early sauropodomorph dinosaurs. The clade was first proposed by Galton and van Heerden in 1985. The family consists of Blikanasaurus and its nearest relatives. However, it is not clear which other genera are included in the family. The family is not used in many...
- VulcanodontidaeVulcanodontidaeThe Early Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs Zizhongosaurus, Barapasaurus, Tazoudasaurus, and Vulcanodon may form a natural group of basal sauropods called the Vulcanodontidae. Basal vulcanodonts include some of the earliest known examples of sauropods. The family-level name Vulcanodontidae was erected by...
- Eusauropoda (
ShunosaurusShunosaurus, meaning "Shu Lizard", is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from Middle Jurassic beds in Sichuan Province in China, 170 million years ago...
+ Saltasaurus)- ? EuhelopodidaeEuhelopodidaeEuhelopodidae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs which includes the genus Euhelopus. The family name was first proposed by American paleontologist Alfred Sherwood Romer in 1956. The four genera Chiayusaurus, Omeisaurus, Tienshanosaurus, and Euhelopus were the original proposed euhelopodines...
- MamenchisauridaeMamenchisauridaeMamenchisauridae is an extinct family of sauropod dinosaurs. The family was first named by Chinese paleontologists C.C. Young and H.C. Chao in 1972, in a paper describing Mamenchisaurus. Other mamenchisaurids may include Bellusaurus, Chuanjiesaurus, Eomamenchisaurus, Hudiesaurus, Klamelisaurus,...
- Cetiosauridae (
CetiosaurusCetiosaurus meaning 'whale lizard', from the Greek cetus/κητος meaning 'sea monster' and saurus/σαυρος meaning 'lizard', was a sauropod dinosaur from the Mid to Late Jurassic Period in what are now Europe and Africa. It is estimated to have been about long and to have weighed roughly...
> Saltasaurus) - ? Anchisauridae
- NeosauropodaNeosauropodaNeosauropoda is a division-level clade of sauropods within Dinosauria, and consists of the group leading to Diplodocoidea and Macronaria. Haplocanthosaurus was a typical basal neosauropod from around 150 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic...
(DiplodocusDiplodocusDiplodocus , or )is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur whose fossils were first discovered in 1877 by S. W. Williston. The generic name, coined by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878, is a Neo-Latin term derived from Greek "double" and "beam", in reference to its double-beamed chevron bones...
+ Saltasaurus)- DiplodocoideaDiplodocoideaDiplodocoidea was a superfamily of sauropod dinosaurs, which included some of the longest animals of all time, including slender giants like Supersaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, and Amphicoelias...
(
- RebbachisauridaeRebbachisauridaeRebbachisauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs known from fragmentary fossil remains from the Cretaceous of South America, Africa, and Europe.-Taxonomy:...
(
RebbachisaurusRebbachisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur of the superfamily Diplodocoidea, up to 20 meters long, that lived during the Early-Late Cretaceous period in Africa about 99 million years ago. This massive four-legged plant-eating animal had a small head, a long, graceful neck and a whiplike...
> Diplodocus) - Diplodocoidea
- Flagellicaudata
- DicraeosauridaeDicraeosauridaeDicraeosauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs known from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Africa and South America. Currently only three genera are recognised; the Jurassic South American genus Brachytrachelopan, the Jurassic African Dicraeosaurus and the South American Early...
(DicraeosaurusDicraeosaurusDicraeosaurus is a genus of small diplodocoid sauropod dinosaur. It was named for the spines on the back of the neck. The first fossil was described by paleontologist Werner Janensch in 1914.Unlike most diplodocoids, Dicraeosaurus had a large head with a relatively short and wide neck...
> Diplodocus) - Diplodocidae (Diplodocus > Dicraeosaurus)
- Dicraeosauridae
Macronaria
Macronaria is a clade of sauropod dinosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous Periods of what are now North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The name means 'large nostrils' , in reference to the large nasal openings high on the head that probably supported fleshy...
(Saltasaurus > Diplodocus)
- ?
Jobaria
Jobaria was a sauropod dinosaur discovered in the Sahara Desert in 1997. It was named after "Jobar", a creature of local legends, and is thought to have been about 18 metres long. It was found in the Tiourarén Formation, originally thought to represent the Hauterivian to Barremian stages of the...
tiguidensis
Camarasaurus
Camarasaurus meaning 'chambered lizard', referring to the hollow chambers in its vertebrae was a genus of quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaurs. It was the most common of the giant sauropods to be found in North America...
+ Saltasaurus)
- Camarasauridae
- Titanosauriformes (
Brachiosaurus
Brachiosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Jurassic Morrison Formation of North America. It was first described by Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in the Grand River Canyon of western Colorado, in the United States. Riggs named the dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax,...
+ Saltasaurus)
- BrachiosauridaeBrachiosauridaeBrachiosauridae are a family of dinosaurs, whose members are known as brachiosaurids. They were herbivorous quadrupeds with longer forelegs than hind legs - the name derives from the Greek for arm lizard - and long necks...
(
- Andesauridae
- Lithostrotia (
Malawisaurus
Malawisaurus was a genus of sauropod dinosaur . It lived in what is now Africa, specifically Malawi, during the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous Period. It is one of the few titanosaurs for which skull material has been found.It was named by Louis L. Jacobs and colleagues, and was originally...
+ Saltasaurus)
Isisaurus
Isisaurus is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period. Isisaurus was a sauropod , which lived in what is now India....
colberti
Paralititan
Paralititan was a giant titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur genus discovered in coastal deposits in the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of Egypt. The fossil represents the first tetrapod reported from the Bahariya Formation since 1935. Its 1.69 meter long humerus is longer than that of any...
stromeri
Nemegtosauridae
Nemegtosauridae is a family of probably titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs based originally on two late Cretaceous Mongolian species known only from their diplodocid-like skulls: Nemegtosaurus and Quaesitosaurus. Authorities disagree as to the relationship of these two genera with other sauropods,...
Saltasauridae
Saltasauridae is a family of titanosaurian dinosaurs known from the late Cretaceous period of South America, Spain, Madagascar and Mongolia....
(Opisthocoelicaudia
Opisthocoelicaudia
Opisthocoelicaudia was 12-metre-long sauropod dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous Period discovered in Mongolia in 1965 by Polish and Mongolian scientists in what is now the Gobi Desert...
+ Saltasaurus)
Theropoda
Theropoda is both a suborder of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs, and a clade consisting of that suborder and its descendants . Dinosaurs belonging to the suborder theropoda were primarily carnivorous, although a number of theropod groups evolved herbivory, omnivory, and insectivory...
(Passer domesticus
Passer
Passer is a genus of Old World sparrows. These sparrows are plump little brown or greyish birds often with black, yellow or white markings. Typically 10–20 cm long, they have short tails and stubby conical beaks...
> Cetiosaurus oxoniensis)
- ?
Eoraptor
Eoraptor was one of the world's earliest dinosaurs. It was a two-legged saurischian, close to the ancestry of theropods and sauropodomorphs. It lived ca. 231.4 million years ago, in what is now the northwestern region of Argentina...
lunensis
Ceratosauria
Ceratosaurs are members of a group of theropod dinosaurs defined as all theropods sharing a more recent common ancestry with Ceratosaurus than with birds. There is presently no universally agreed upon listing of species or diagnostic characters of Ceratosauria, though they were less derived...
(Ceratosaurus
Ceratosaurus
Ceratosaurus meaning "horned lizard", in reference to the horn on its nose , was a large predatory theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period , found in the Morrison Formation of North America, in Tanzania and Portugal...
nasicornis > Aves)
- ? CoelophysoideaCoelophysoideaCoelophysoids were common dinosaurs of the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods. They were widespread geographically, probably living on all continents. Coelophysoids were all slender, carnivorous forms with a superficial similarity to the coelurosaurs, with which they were formerly...
(
Coelophysis
Coelophysis , meaning "hollow form" in reference to its hollow bones , is one of the earliest known genera of dinosaur...
> Ceratosaurus)
- ?
Dilophosaurus
Dilophosaurus was a theropod dinosaur from the Sinemurian stage of the Early Jurassic Period, about 193 million years ago. The first specimens were described in 1954, but it was not until over a decade later that the genus received its current name...
wetherilli
Coelophysidae
The Coelophysidae are a family of primitive carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. Most species were relatively small in size. The family flourished in the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods....
(Coelophysis
Coelophysis
Coelophysis , meaning "hollow form" in reference to its hollow bones , is one of the earliest known genera of dinosaur...
+ Megapnosaurus
Megapnosaurus
Megapnosaurus was a dinosaur of the theropod family Coelophysidae, formerly called Syntarsus , living during the Early Jurassic. It was renamed by American entomologist Dr. Michael Ivie , Polish Australian Dr...
)
- CeratosauridaeCeratosauridaeCeratosauridae is a family of theropod dinosaurs belonging to the infraorder Ceratosauria. Its type genus, Ceratosaurus, was first found in Jurassic rocks from North America. Ceratosauridae is made up of Ceratosaurus, found in North America, Tanzania, and Portugal, and Genyodectes, from the Late...
- Abelisauroidea (
Carnotaurus
Carnotaurus was a large predatory dinosaur. Only one species, Carnotaurus sastrei has been described so far.Carnotaurus lived in Patagonia, Argentina during the Campanian or Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous...
sastrei > C. nasicornis)
- Abelisauria (
Noasaurus
Noasaurus is the name given to a carnivorous dinosaur genus of the late Campanian-Maastrichtian...
+ Carnotaurus
Carnotaurus
Carnotaurus was a large predatory dinosaur. Only one species, Carnotaurus sastrei has been described so far.Carnotaurus lived in Patagonia, Argentina during the Campanian or Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous...
)
- NoasauridaeNoasauridaeNoasaurids were a group of theropod dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period . They were generally small in size...
- AbelisauridaeAbelisauridaeAbelisauridae is a family of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Abelisaurids thrived during the Cretaceous Period, on the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana, and today their fossil remains are found on the modern continents of Africa and South America, as well as on the Indian...
(
Abelisaurus
Abelisaurus is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now South America. It was a bipedal carnivore that probably reached 7 to 9 meters in length, although it is known from only one partial skull.The generic name recognizes Roberto Abel as the...
comahuensis + C. sastrei)
- CarnotaurinaeCarnotaurinaeCarnotaurinae is a subfamily of the theropod dinosaur family Abelisauridae. It includes the dinosaurs Aucasaurus , Carnotaurus , Majungasaurus , and Rajasaurus...
(
Tetanurae
Tetanurae, or "stiff tails", is a clade that includes most theropod dinosaurs, as well as birds. Tetanurans first appear during the early or middle Jurassic Period.-Definition:...
(P. domesticus > C. nasicornis)
- ? Spinosauroidea (
Spinosaurus
Spinosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in what is now North Africa, from the lower Albian to lower Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous period, about 112 to 97 million years ago. This genus was first known from Egyptian remains discovered in 1912 and described by German...
aegyptiacus > P. domesticus)
- Megalosauridae (
Megalosaurus
Megalosaurus is a genus of large meat-eating theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic period of Europe...
bucklandii > P. domesticus, S. aegyptiacus, Allosaurus fragilis)
- Megalosaurinae (
Eustreptospondylus
Eustreptospondylus is a genus of megalosaurid dinosaur, from the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic period in southern England, at a time when Europe was a series of scattered islands Eustreptospondylus ("well-curved vertebra", in reference to the arrangement of the spine in the original...
oxoniensis)
Spinosauridae
Spinosauridae is a family of specialised theropod dinosaurs. Members of this family were large, bipedal predators with elongated, crocodile-like skulls, sporting conical teeth with no or only very tiny serrations. The front dentary teeth fanned out, giving the animal a characteristic look...
(S. aegyptiacus > P. domesticus, M. bucklandii, A. fragilis)
- Baryonychinae (
Baryonyx
Baryonyx is a genus of carnivorous saurischian dinosaur first discovered in clay pits just south of Dorking, England, and later reported from fossils found in northern Spain and Portugal. It is known to contain only one species, Baryonyx walkeri...
walkeri > S. aegyptiacus)
- CarnosauriaCarnosauriaCarnosauria is a group of large predatory dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. While it originally contained a wide assortment of giant theropods that were not closely related, the group has since been defined to encompass only the allosaurs and their closest kin...
(
- ? Spinosauroidea
Monolophosaurus
Monolophosaurus was a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of the Shishugou Formation in what is now Xinjiang, China. It was named for the single crest on top of its skull. The type and only known individual is estimated at...
jiangi
Allosauroidea
Allosauroidea is a superfamily or clade of theropod dinosaurs which contains four families — the Sinraptoridae, Allosauridae, Carcharodontosauridae, and Neovenatoridae...
(A. fragilis + Sinraptor
Sinraptor
Sinraptor is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. The name Sinraptor comes from the Latin prefix "Sino", meaning Chinese, and "Raptor" meaning thief. The specific name dongi honours Dong Zhiming...
dongi)
- Allosauridae (
Carcharodontosaurus
Carcharodontosaurus was a gigantic carnivorous carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived around 100 to 93 million years ago, during the late Albian to early Cenomanian stages of the mid-Cretaceous Period...
saharicus)
Sinraptoridae
Sinraptorids were a family of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. They tended to be large predators, some growing to sizes of . Sinraptorids are carnosaurs, and many were initially classified within Megalosauridae or Allosauridae prior to recent analysis...
(S. dongi > A. fragilis, C. saharicus)
Carcharodontosauridae
Carcharodontosaurids were a group of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. In 1931 Ernst Stromer named Carcharodontosauridae as a family, in modern paleontology this name indicates a clade within Carnosauria...
(C. saharicus > A. fragilis, S. dongi)
Coelurosauria
Coelurosauria is the clade containing all theropod dinosaurs more closely related to birds than to carnosaurs. In the past, it was used to refer to all small theropods, although this classification has been abolished...
(P. domesticus > A. fragilis)
- CompsognathidaeCompsognathidaeCompsognathidae is a family of small carnivorous dinosaurs, generally conservative in form, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. Compsognathids lie at or near the origin of feathers—skin impressions are known from four genera, Compsognathus, Sinosauropteryx, Sinocalliopteryx, and Juravenator...
(
Compsognathus
Compsognathus was a small, bipedal, carnivorous theropod dinosaur. The animal was the size of a turkey and lived around 150 million years ago, the early Tithonian stage of the late Jurassic Period, in what is now Europe. Paleontologists have found two well-preserved fossils, one in Germany...
longipes > P. domesticus)
Proceratosaurus
Proceratosaurus is a genus of small-sized carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of England. It was originally thought to be an ancestor of Ceratosaurus, due to the similar small crest on its snout...
bradleyi
Ornitholestes
Ornitholestes was a small theropod dinosaur of the late Jurassic of Western Laurasia . To date, it is known only from a single partial skeleton, and badly crushed skull found at the Bone Cabin Quarry near Medicine Bow, Wyoming, in 1900...
hermanni
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
rex + P. domesticus)
Coelurus
Coelurus is a genus of coelurosaur dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period . The name means "hollow tail", referring to its hollow tail vertebrae...
fragilis
Tyrannosauroidea
Tyrannosauroidea is a superfamily of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that includes the family Tyrannosauridae as well as more basal relatives. Tyrannosauroids lived on the Laurasian supercontinent beginning in the Jurassic Period...
(T. rex > Ornithomimus
Ornithomimus
Ornithomimus is a genus of ornithomimid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America.In 1890 Ornithomimus velox was named by Othniel Charles Marsh on the basis of a foot and partial hand from the Maastrichtian Denver Formation. Another seventeen species have been named since...
velox, Deinonychus
Deinonychus
Deinonychus was a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid dinosaur. There is one described species, Deinonychus antirrhopus. This 3.4 meter long dinosaur lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million years ago . Fossils have been recovered from the U.S...
antirrhopus, A. fragilis)
- Dryptosauridae
- TyrannosauridaeTyrannosauridaeTyrannosauridae is a family of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs which comprises two subfamilies containing up to six genera, including the eponymous Tyrannosaurus. The exact number of genera is controversial, with some experts recognizing as few as three...
(
Tarbosaurus
Tarbosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that flourished in Asia about 70 million years ago, at the end of the Late Cretaceous Period. Fossils have been recovered in Mongolia, with more fragmentary remains found further afield in parts of China. Although many species have been...
bataar + Daspletosaurus
Daspletosaurus
Daspletosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America between 77 and 74 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period. Fossils of the only named species were found in Alberta, although other possible species from Alberta and Montana await...
torosus + Albertosaurus
Albertosaurus
Albertosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, more than 70 million years ago. The type species, A. sarcophagus, was apparently restricted in range to the modern-day Canadian province of Alberta, after which...
sarcophagus + Gorgosaurus
Gorgosaurus
Gorgosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, between about 76.5 and 75 million years ago. Fossil remains have been found in the Canadian province of Alberta and possibly the U.S. state of Montana....
libratus)
- Tyrannosaurinae (
Maniraptoriformes
Maniraptoriformes is a clade of dinosaurs that contains ornithomimosaurs and maniraptors. This group was named by Thomas Holtz, who defined it as "the most recent common ancestor of Ornithomimus and birds, and all descendants of that common ancestor."...
(O. velox + P. domesticus)
- OrnithomimosauriaOrnithomimosauriaThe Ornithomimosauria, ornithomimosaurs or ostrich dinosaurs were theropod dinosaurs which bore a superficial resemblance to modern ostriches. They were fast, omnivorous or herbivorous dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period of Laurasia...
(
Ornithomimus
Ornithomimus is a genus of ornithomimid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America.In 1890 Ornithomimus velox was named by Othniel Charles Marsh on the basis of a foot and partial hand from the Maastrichtian Denver Formation. Another seventeen species have been named since...
edmontonicus + Pelecanimimus polyodon)
- Harpymimidae
- Garudimimidae
- Ornithomimidae
Maniraptora
Maniraptora is a clade of coelurosaurian dinosaurs which includes the birds and the dinosaurs that were more closely related to them than to Ornithomimus velox. It contains the major subgroups Avialae, Deinonychosauria, Oviraptorosauria and Therizinosauria. Ornitholestes and the Alvarezsauroidea...
(P. domesticus > O. velox)
- OviraptorosauriaOviraptorosauriaOviraptorosaurs are a group of feathered maniraptoran dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period of what are now Asia and North America. They are distinct for their characteristically short, beaked, parrot - like skulls, with or without bony crests atop the head...
(
Oviraptor
Oviraptor is a genus of small Mongolian theropod dinosaur, first discovered by the paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, and first described by Henry Fairfield Osborn, in 1924...
philoceratops > P. domesticus)
- CaenagnathoideaCaenagnathoideaCaenagnathoidea is a group of advanced oviraptorosaurian dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period of what are now Asia and North America. They are distinct for their characteristically short, beaked, parrot - like skulls, often with bony crests atop the head...
(
- Caenagnathidae (
Oviraptoridae
Oviraptoridae is a group of bird-like, herbivorous and omnivorous maniraptoran dinosaurs. Oviraptorids are characterized by their toothless, parrot-like beaks and, in some cases, elaborate crests. They were generally small, measuring between one and two metres long in most cases, though some...
(O. philoceratops > C. collinsi)
- OviraptorinaeOviraptorinaeOviraptorinae is a subfamily of bird-like maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs within the clade Oviraptoridae.-Classification and species: The classification of the oviraptorids has been controversial...
(
Therizinosaurus
Therizinosaurus is a genus of very large theropod dinosaur. Therizinosaurus lived in the late Cretaceous Period , and was one of the last and largest representatives of its unique group, the Therizinosauria...
+ Beipiaosaurus
Beipiaosaurus
Beipiaosaurus is a genus of therizinosauroid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China.The exact classification of therizinosaurs had in the past been hotly debated, since their prosauropod-like teeth and body structure indicate that they were generally herbivorous, unlike typical...
)
- Alxasauridae
- TherizinosauridaeTherizinosauridaeTherizinosauridae is a family of advanced herbivorous or omnivorous theropod dinosaurs. Therizinosaurid fossil remains have been recovered from mid-late Cretaceous Period deposits from Mongolia, China, and the United States.-Classification:...
Paraves
Paraves is a branch-based clade containing birds and other closely related dinosaurs. The paravians include the Avialae, including Archaeopteryx and modern birds, and the Deinonychosauria, which includes the dromaeosaurids and troodontids....
(P. domesticus > O. philoceratops)
- Eumaniraptora (
- DeinonychosauriaDeinonychosauriaThe Deinonychosauria were a clade of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. These omnivores and carnivores are known for their switchblade-like second toe claws and for displaying numerous bird-like characteristics. The clade has been divided into two...
(
Dromaeosaurus
Dromaeosaurus was a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous period , sometime between 76.5 and 74.8 million years ago, in the western United States and Alberta, Canada. The name means 'running lizard'....
albertensis + Troodon
Troodon
Troodon is a genus of relatively small, bird-like dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period . Discovered in 1855, it was among the first dinosaurs found in North America...
formosus)
- TroodontidaeTroodontidaeTroodontidae is a family of bird-like theropod dinosaurs. During most of the 20th century, troodontid fossils were few and scrappy and they have therefore been allied, at various times, with many dinosaurian lineages...
(
Velociraptor
Velociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...
mongoliensis)
Dromaeosauridae
Dromaeosauridae is a family of bird-like theropod dinosaurs. They were small- to medium-sized feathered carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period. The name Dromaeosauridae means 'running lizards', from Greek dromeus meaning 'runner' and sauros meaning 'lizard'...
(Microraptor
Microraptor
Microraptor is a genus of small, four-winged dromaeosaurid dinosaurs. Numerous well-preserved fossil specimens have been recovered from Liaoning, China...
zhaoianus + Sinornithosaurus
Sinornithosaurus
Sinornithosaurus is a genus of feathered dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period of the Yixian Formation in what is now China. It was the fifth non–avian feathered dinosaur genus discovered by 1999...
millenii + V. mongoliensis)
Avialae
Avialae is a clade of dinosaurs containing their only living representatives, birds , and the most immediate extinct relatives of birds.-Competing definitions:...
(Archaeopteryx
Archaeopteryx
Archaeopteryx , sometimes referred to by its German name Urvogel , is a genus of theropod dinosaur that is closely related to birds. The name derives from the Ancient Greek meaning "ancient", and , meaning "feather" or "wing"...
+ Neornithes)
Ornithischia
(IguanodonIguanodon
Iguanodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived roughly halfway between the first of the swift bipedal hypsilophodontids and the ornithopods' culmination in the duck-billed dinosaurs...
/Triceratops > Cetiosaurus/Tyrannosaurus)
- ?
Lesothosaurus
Lesothosaurus is an herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur. It was named by paleontologist Peter Galton in 1978, the name meaning "lizard from Lesotho". The genus is monotypic, having only one valid species, Lesothosaurus diagnosticus, within the genus....
diagnosticus
Heterodontosauridae
Heterodontosauridae is a family of early ornithischian dinosaurs that were likely among the most basal members of the group...
Genasauria
Genasauria is an extinct clade of beaked, herbivorous dinosaurs. The group was first named by paleontologist Paul Sereno in 1986, and is typically split into Thyreophora, a group of armored dinosaurs; and Neornithischia, which included the horned and duck-billed dinosaurs...
(
Ankylosaurus
Ankylosaurus is a genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur, containing one species, A. magniventris...
+ Triceratops)
- ThyreophoraThyreophoraThe Thyreophora were a subgroup of the ornithischian dinosaurs...
(
- Scelidosauridae
- Eurypoda (
- StegosauriaStegosauriaKnown colloquially as stegosaurs, the Stegosauria are a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous Periods, being found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, predominantly in what is now North America and China....
(
- Huayangosauridae (
Stegosauridae
Stegosauridae is a family of stegosauria, large thyreophorans. They lived longer than other Stegosaurs; while all Huayangosauridae and most of basal stegosaurs died out in Tithonian - Kimmeridgian, stegosauridae survived till Middle Cretaceous. They are usually characterized by triangular plates on...
(
Dacentrurus
Dacentrurus , originally known as Omosaurus, was a large stegosaur of the Late Jurassic Period .-Description:...
armatus
Ankylosauria
Ankylosauria is a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the order Ornithischia. It includes the great majority of dinosaurs with armor in the form of bony osteoderms. Ankylosaurs were bulky quadrupeds, with short, powerful limbs. They are first known to have appeared in the early Jurassic Period of...
(
- AnkylosauridaeAnkylosauridaeAn ankylosaurid is a member of the Ankylosauridae family of armored dinosaurs that evolved 125 million years ago and became extinct 65 million years ago during the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event...
(
Gastonia (dinosaur)
Gastonia is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of North America, around 125 million years ago. Closely related to Polacanthus, it has a sacral shield and large shoulder spikes. It is also the first polacanthine dinosaur to have been mounted for display at the Denver Museum of...
burgei
Shamosaurus
Shamosaurus is an extinct genus of basal ankylosaurid ankylosaur from Early Cretaceous deposits of Höövör, Mongolia. Shamosaurus is known from the holotype PIN N 3779/2 complete skull and jaw and the paratypes include partial skeleton remains and an armor. It was collected from the...
scutatus
Nodosauridae
Nodosauridae is a family of ankylosaurian dinosaurs, from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous Period of what are now North America, Asia, Antarctica and Europe.-Characteristics:...
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Cerapoda
Neornithischia is a clade of the dinosaur order Ornithischia. They are the sister group of the Thyreophora within the clade Genasauria. Neornithischians are united by having a thicker layer of asymmetrical enamel on the inside of their lower teeth...
(
- Ornithopoda (
Edmontosaurus
Edmontosaurus is a genus of crestless hadrosaurid dinosaur. It contains two species: Edmontosaurus regalis and Edmontosaurus annectens. Fossils of E. regalis have been found in rocks of western North America that date from the late Campanian stage of the Cretaceous Period 73 million years ago,...
> Triceratops)
- ?
Lesothosaurus
Lesothosaurus is an herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur. It was named by paleontologist Peter Galton in 1978, the name meaning "lizard from Lesotho". The genus is monotypic, having only one valid species, Lesothosaurus diagnosticus, within the genus....
diagnosticus
Heterodontosauridae
Heterodontosauridae is a family of early ornithischian dinosaurs that were likely among the most basal members of the group...
Hypsilophodon
Hypsilophodon is an ornithopod dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous period of Europe. It was a small bipedal animal with an herbivorous or possibly omnivorous diet...
foxii
Thescelosaurus
Thescelosaurus was a genus of small ornithopod dinosaur that appeared at the very end of the Late Cretaceous period in North America. It was a member of the last dinosaurian fauna before the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event around 65.5 million years ago...
neglectus
Tenontosaurus
Tenontosaurus is a genus of medium- to large-sized ornithopod dinosaur. The genus is known from the late Aptian to Albian ages of the middle Cretaceous period sediments of western North America, dating between 115 to 108 million years ago...
tilletti
Rhabdodontidae
Rhabdodontids were herbivorous ornithopod dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period. Rhabdodontids were similar to large, robust hypsilophodonts, with deep skulls and jaws. The family was first proposed by David B. Weishampel et al. in 2002...
- DryosauridaeDryosauridaeDryosaurids were primitive iguanodonts. They are known from Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous rocks of Africa, Europe, and North America.-Phylogeny:...
- Ankylopollexia
- Camptosauridae
- Styracosterna
Lurdusaurus
Lurdusaurus is a genus of large ornithopod dinosaur which lived in the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous, sometime between 121 to 112 million years ago.-Discovery and naming:...
arenatus
- Iguanodontidae
- Hadrosauridae (
Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 76.5–73 million years ago. It was an herbivore that walked both as a biped and a quadruped. Three species are recognized: P. walkeri , P. tubicen, and the...
)
Telmatosaurus
Telmatosaurus is a genus of basal hadrosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. It was a relatively small hadrosaur, approximately five meters long, found in what is now Romania....
transsylvanicus
- LambeosaurinaeLambeosaurinaeLambeosaurinae is a group of crested hadrosaurid dinosaurs.-Classification:Lambeosaurines have been split into Parasaurolophini and Corythosaurini . Corythosaurini and Parasaurolophini as terms entered the formal literature in Evans and Reisz's 2007 redescription of Lambeosaurus magnicristatus...
- Saurolophinae (=HadrosaurinaeHadrosaurinaeSaurolophinae is a subfamily of hadrosaurid dinosaurs. Members of the subfamily derive from the Late Cretaceous of Antarctica, Argentina, Canada , China, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, the United States and...
)
Marginocephalia
Marginocephalia is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs that includes the thick-skulled pachycephalosaurids, and horned ceratopsians. They were all herbivores, walking on two or four legs, and are characterized by a bony ridge or frill the back of the skull...
- PachycephalosauriaPachycephalosauriaPachycephalosauria is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs. Well-known genera include Pachycephalosaurus, Stegoceras, Stygimoloch, and Dracorex. Most lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, in what is now North America and Asia. They were all bipedal, herbivorous/omnivorous animals with thick skulls...
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Pachycephalosaurus
Pachycephalosaurus is a genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaur. It lived during the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America. Remains have been excavated in Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming. It was an herbivorous or omnivorous creature which is only known from a single skull and a few...
wyomingensis > Triceratops horridus)
- Goyocephala (
- Homalocephaloidea (
Homalocephale
Homalocephale is a genus of dinosaur belonging to the pachycephalosaurid family, which lived during the late Cretaceous period of what is now Mongolia, 80 million years ago. The genus was described in 1974 by Osmólska & Maryañska, and consists of a single species, H...
+ Pachycephalosaurus)
- Homalocephalidae
- Pachycephalosauridae
Ceratopsia
Ceratopsia or Ceratopia is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs which thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. The earliest known ceratopsian, Yinlong downsi, lived between 161.2 and 155.7...
(Triceratops > Pachycephalosaurus)
- PsittacosauridaePsittacosauridaeThe Psittacosauridae were a group of ceratopsian dinosaurs, which lived between 140.2 and 99.6 million years ago. The family Psittacosauridae was first named by American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1923...
- Neoceratopsia
- Coronosauria
- Protoceratopsidae
- BagaceratopidaeBagaceratopidaeBagaceratopidae is a family of neoceratopsian dinosaurs. It was named by Alifanov in 2003 but no definition has been proposed. Because of lacking of the definition, Bagaceratopidae was considered inactive by Paul Sereno in 2005...
- Ceratopsoidea
- LeptoceratopsidaeLeptoceratopsidaeThe family Leptoceratopsidae, its name derived from the type genus Leptoceratops, is a group of several small neoceratopsian genera which appear not to belong to the clade Protoceratopsidae. They resembled, and were closely related to, other ceratopsids, but all discovered species are generally...
- Ceratopsomorpha
- CeratopsidaeCeratopsidaeCeratopsidae is a speciose group of marginocephalian dinosaurs including Triceratops and Styracosaurus...
- CentrosaurinaeCentrosaurinaeThe Centrosaurinae is a subfamily of ceratopsid dinosaurs named by paleontologist Lawrence Lambe, in 1915, with Centrosaurus as the type genus...
- ChasmosaurinaeChasmosaurinaeChasmosaurinae is a subfamily of ceratopsid dinosaurs. Triceratops is a well-known example. They were one of the most successful groups of herbivores of their time. Chasmosaurines appeared in the early Campanian, and became extinct, along with all other non-avian dinosaurs, during the K-T extinction...
- Centrosaurinae
- Ceratopsidae
- Leptoceratopsidae
- Coronosauria