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Ornithopods
Ornithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (). They represent one of the most successful groups of herbivore, 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 Hadrosauridae, hadrosaurids (colloquially known as 'duck-bills'), before they were wiped out by the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event along with all other non-aves, avian dinosaurs. Members are known worldwide. History of research In 1870, Thomas Henry Huxley listed Iguanodontidae (coined by Edward Drinker Cope a year earlier) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nanosaurus
''Nanosaurus'' ("small or dwarf lizard") is an extinct genus of neornithischian dinosaur that lived about 155 to 148 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic in North America. Its fossils are known from the Morrison Formation of the south-western United States. The type and only species, ''Nanosaurus agilis'', was described and named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1877. The taxon has a complicated taxonomic history, largely the work of Marsh and Peter M. Galton, involving the genera '' Laosaurus'', ''Hallopus'', ''Drinker'', ''Othnielia'', and ''Othnielosaurus'', the latter three now being considered to be synonyms of ''Nanosaurus''. It had historically been classified as a hypsilophodont or fabrosaur, types of generalized small bipedal herbivore, but more recent research has abandoned these groupings as paraphyletic and ''Nanosaurus'' is today considered a basal member of Neornithischia. History and taxonomy Marsh's original groundwork ''Nanosaurus'' has had a long and co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenontosaurus
''Tenontosaurus'' ( ; ) is a genus of iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur. It had an unusually long, broad tail, which like its back was stiffened with a network of bony tendons. The genus is known from the late Aptian to Albian ages of the Early Cretaceous period sediments of western North America, dating between 115 and 108 million years ago. It contains two species, ''Tenontosaurus tilletti'' (described by John Ostrom in 1970) and ''Tenontosaurus dossi'' (described by Winkler, Murry, and Jacobs in 1997). Many specimens of ''T. tilletti'' have been collected from several geological formations throughout western North America. ''T. dossi'' is known from only a handful of specimens collected from the Twin Mountains Formation of Parker County, Texas. History of discovery The first ''Tenontosaurus'' fossil was found in Big Horn County, Montana by an American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) expedition in 1903. Subsequent digs in the same area during the 1930s unearthed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Owenodon
''Owenodon'' is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur known from a partial dentary, lower jaw discovered in Early Cretaceous-age rocks of Dorset, United Kingdom, and possibly also Romania and Spain. The first and only definitive specimen was found in the Lulworth Formation of the Purbeck Limestone Group, dating to the middle Berriasian stage. It was first described by Richard Owen as a species ''Iguanodon'', ''I. hoggii'', honouring naturalist A.J. Hogg who had originally collected the fossil. Owen described the mandible as it was, partially embedded in a limestone block, but it was given to the Natural History Museum, London where it was accessioned as NHMUK PV R 2998 and further prepared. Some damage occurred to a tooth crown and part of the bone while stored in the collections. Redescription of ''I. hoggii'' by David Norman and Paul Barrett subsequently transferred the species to ''Camptosaurus'' in 2002, as well as tentatively referring other camptosaur-like material from the Pur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muttaburrasaurus
''Muttaburrasaurus'' was a genus of herbivorous iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now northeastern Australia sometime between 112 and 103 million years agoHoltz, Thomas R. Jr. (2012) ''Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages,'Winter 2011 Appendix./ref> during the early Cretaceous Period (geology), period. It has been recovered in some analyses as a member of the iguanodontian clade Rhabdodontomorpha. After ''Kunbarrasaurus'', it is Australia's most completely known dinosaur from skeletal remains. It was named after Muttaburra, the site in Queensland, Australia, where it was found. The dinosaur was selected from twelve candidates to become the Symbols of Queensland, official fossil emblem of the State of Queensland. Discovery The species was initially described from a partial skeleton found by grazier Doug Langdon in 1963 at Rosebery Downs Station beside Thomson River (Queensland), Thomson River near Muttaburr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edmontosaurus Annectens
''Edmontosaurus annectens'' (meaning "connected lizard from Edmonton"), often colloquially and historically known as ''Anatosaurus'' (meaning "duck lizard"), is a species of flat-headed Saurolophinae, saurolophine hadrosaurid dinosaur from the late Maastrichtian Geologic time scale, age at the very end of the Cretaceous Period (geology), period, in what is now western North America. Remains of ''E. annectens'' have been preserved in the Frenchman Formation, Frenchman, Hell Creek Formation, Hell Creek, and Lance Formations. All of these formations are dated to the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period, which represents the last three million years before the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs (between 68 and 66 million years agoHoltz, Thomas R. Jr. (2012) ''Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages,'Winter 2011 Appendix./ref>). ''E. annectens'' is also found in the Laramie Formation, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ajkaceratops
''Ajkaceratops'' (pronounced "oi-ka-sera-tops") is a genus of ornithischian dinosaur described in 2010. It lived during the Late Cretaceous in the western Tethys Ocean, Tethyan archipelago, in what is now Europe. The type species, ''A. kozmai'', was originally described as a ceratopsian most closely related to forms in east Asia, from where its ancestors may have migrated by Oceanic dispersal, island-hopping. Later research however has questioned this assignment, and treats ''Ajkaceratops'' as an ornithischian of unresolved affinity. Discovery The holotype, cataloged as MTM V2009.192.1, consists only of a few skull fragments, including snout with proposed rostral bone, fused premaxillae, and maxillae fragments (beak and jaw fragments). These fossils are kept in the Hungarian Natural History Museum, in Budapest. The generic name, ''Ajkaceratops'', honors Ajka, a town in Hungary where the fossils were first discovered, combined with the given greek nomination ''ceratops'', meaning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hesperonyx
''Hesperonyx'' (meaning "western claw") is an extinct genus of dryomorphan ornithopod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Lourinhã Formation of Portugal. The genus contains a single species, ''Hesperonyx martinhotomasorum'', known from bones of the fore- and hindlimbs. Discovery and naming The ''Hesperonyx'' holotype specimen, ML 2700, was discovered in 2021 in sediments of the Lourinhã Formation (Porto Novo Member) along the beach at Porto Dinheiro. The specimen consists of bones from the left forelimb (a hand claw, ulnare, and partial metacarpal) and hindlimb (the tibia, fibula, most of metatarsals I–IV, remains of five phalanges, and three toe claws). In 2024, Rotatori et al. described ''Hesperonyx martinhotomasorum'' as a new genus and species of ornithopod dinosaurs based on these fossil remains. The generic name, "''Hesperonyx''", combines "Hesperus" (or the "Evening Star"), after the Greek god whose name also references the western direction—referencing the hol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dryosauridae
Dryosauridae was a family of primitive iguanodonts, first proposed by Milner & Norman in 1984. They are known from Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous rocks of Africa, Europe, and North America. Dryosauridae was first proposed in 1984 by British paleontologists Andrew R. Milner and David B. Norman, as a family to unite the early ornithopods '' Dryosaurus'', '' Valdosaurus'', and possibly ''Parksosaurus'' and '' Mochlodon''. Milner and Norman separated these taxa from the family Hypsilophodontidae as they showed greater similarity with hadrosaurids and iguanodontids. The spelling had previously been used as a typographical error by Deraniyagala in 1939 for Dyrosauridae. Classification Until recently, many dryosaurids have been regarded as dubious ('' Callovosaurus'' and '' Kangnasaurus'') or as species of the type member, '' Dryosaurus'' ('' Dysalotosaurus'', '' Elrhazosaurus'' and '' Valdosaurus''). However, more recent studies redescribe these genera as valid. Under the Phy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ankylopollexia
Ankylopollexia is an extinct clade of ornithischian dinosaurs that lived from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous. It is a derived clade of iguanodontian ornithopods and contains the subgroup Styracosterna. The name stems from the Greek word, “ankylos”, mistakenly taken to mean stiff, fused (in fact the adjective means bent or curved; used of fingers, it can mean hooked), and the Latin word, “pollex”, meaning thumb. Originally described in 1986 by Sereno, a most likely synapomorphic feature of a conical thumb spine defines the clade.Sereno, P.C. (1986). "Phylogeny of the bird-hipped dinosaurs (order Ornithischia)". National Geographic Research 2 (2): 234–56 First appearing around 156 million years ago, in the Jurassic, Ankylopollexia became an extremely successful and widespread clade during the Cretaceous, and were found around the world. The group died out at the end of the Maastrichtian. They grew to be quite large, comparable to some carnivorous dinosaurs an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Jurassic
The Middle Jurassic is the second Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period (geology), Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 161.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively rare, but geological formations containing land animal fossils include the Forest Marble Formation in England, the Kilmaluag Formation in Scotland,British Geological Survey. 2011Stratigraphic framework for the Middle Jurassic strata of Great Britain and the adjoining continental shelf: research report RR/11/06 British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham. the Calcaire de Caen of France, the Daohugou Beds in China, the Itat Formation in Russia, the Tiouraren Formation of Niger, and the Isalo III Formation of western Madagascar. Rocks of the Middle Jurassic were formerly (until about 1980s) in Europe called ''Dogger'' or ''Brown Jurassic''. Paleogeography During the Middle Jurassic Epoch, Pangaea began to separate into Laurasia and Gond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Changmiania
''Changmiania'' (from the Chinese "changmian", meaning "eternal sleep") is a genus of basal ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now China during the Early Cretaceous. It contains a single species, ''Changmiania liaoningensis''. Discovery and naming The taxon is represented by two near-complete articulated skeletons: the holotype specimen, PMOL AD00114; and a referred specimen, PMOL LFV022. These remains were discovered in the Barremian age, 123.2 million years old, Lujiatun Beds of the Yixian Formation by local farmers and partially prepared. They were acquired by the Paleontological Museum of Liaoning at Shenyang, which completed the preparation. No indications were found that the fossils had been tampered with by fossil thieves. The perfect life-like positions of these specimens suggest that they were buried alive, possibly in their own burrows due to a volcanic eruption. In 2020, the type species ''Changmiania liaoningensis'' was named and described by Yang Yuqing, Wu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kulindadromeus
''Kulindadromeus'' is a genus of basal neornithischian dinosaur that lived during the Middle Jurassic. The first ''Kulindadromeus'' fossil was found in Russia. Its feather-like integument is evidence for protofeathers being basal to Ornithischia and possibly Dinosauria as a whole, rather than just to Coelurosauria, as previously suspected. Discovery and naming In 2014, the type species ''Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus'' was named and described by Pascal Godefroit, Sofia Sinitsa, Danielle Dhouailly, Yuri Bolotsky, Alexander Sizov, Maria McNamara, Michael Benton, and Paul Spagna. The generic name is derived from the Kulinda sites and Classical Greek δρομεύς, ''dromeus'', "runner". The specific name refers to the Zabaykalsky Krai. The holotype, INREC K3/109, was found in a layer of the Ukureyskaya Formation dating from the Middle to Late Jurassic, Bajocian-Tithonian, with the specific bed likely dating to the Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic, between 168 and 16 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
