Theropod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Theropods Temporal range: Upper Triassic – Upper Cretaceous (non-avian) |
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| T. rex foot Picture taken at Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago |
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| Conservation status | |
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Fossil
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda Marsh, 1881 |
| Clades | |
Theropods ('beast foot') are a group of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs.
Although they were primarily carnivorous, a number of theropod groups evolved herbivory, omnivory and insectivory.[1]
Theropods first appear during the Carnian age of the Upper Triassic about 230 million years ago. They were the sole large terrestrial carnivores from the Lower Jurassic until the close of the Cretaceous, about 65 million years ago.
Today, they are represented by the 9,300 living species of birds, which evolved in the Upper Jurassic from small feathered coelurosaurian dinosaurs.
Among the features linking theropods to birds are the three-toed foot, a furcula (wishbone), air-filled bones, feathers and brooding of the eggs.
Related pages [change]
References [change]
- ↑ Zanno L.E; Gillette D.D; Albright L.B. and Titus A.L. 2009. A new North American therizinosaurid and the role of herbivory in 'predatory' dinosaur evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Published online before print July 15, 2009, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1029.
