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Pachypodosauria
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is a subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya and their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. Dinosaurs are varied from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. Birds, at over 11,000 living species, are amo ...
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Saurischia
Saurischia ( , meaning "reptile-hipped" from the Greek ' () meaning 'lizard' and ' () meaning 'hip joint') is one of the two basic divisions of dinosaurs (the other being Ornithischia), classified by their hip structure. Saurischia and Ornithischia were originally called orders by Harry Seeley in 1888, though today most paleontologists classify Saurischia as an unranked clade rather than an order.Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). (2004). ''The Dinosauria. 2nd edition''. University of California Press, Berkeley. 833 pp. Description All carnivorous dinosaurs (certain types of theropods) are traditionally classified as saurischians, as are all of the birds and one of the two primary lineages of herbivorous dinosaurs, the sauropodomorphs. At the end of the Cretaceous Period, all saurischians except birds became extinct in the course of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Birds, as a group of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs, are a sub-clade of s ...
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Theropoda
Theropoda (; from ancient Greek [wiktionary:θηρίον, , (''therion'') "wild beast"; wiktionary:πούς, , wiktionary:ποδός, (''pous, podos'') "foot"]) is one of the three major groups (Clade, clades) of Dinosaur, dinosaurs, alongside Ornithischia and Sauropodomorpha. Theropods, both extant and extinct, are characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. They are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs, placing them closer to sauropodomorphs than to ornithischians. They were ancestrally carnivorous, although a number of theropod groups evolved to become herbivores and omnivores. Members of the subgroup Coelurosauria and possibly some other or all theropods were covered in Feather, feathers. In the Jurassic, birds evolved from small specialized coelurosaurian theropods, and are currently represented by about 11,000 living species, making theropods the only group of dinosaurs alive today. Theropods first appeared during the Ca ...
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Late Triassic
The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch and followed by the Early Jurassic Epoch. The corresponding series (stratigraphy), series of rock beds is known as the Upper Triassic. The Late Triassic is divided into the Carnian, Norian and Rhaetian Geologic time scale, ages. Many of the first dinosaurs evolved during the Late Triassic, including ''Plateosaurus'', ''Coelophysis'', ''Herrerasaurus'', and ''Eoraptor''. The Triassic–Jurassic extinction event began during this epoch and is one of the five major mass extinction events of the Earth. Etymology The Triassic was named in 1834 by Friedrich August von Namoh, Friedrich von Alberti, after a succession of three distinct rock layers (Greek meaning 'triad') that are widespread in southern Germany: the lower Buntsandstein (colourful ...
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Ornithischia
Ornithischia () is an extinct clade of mainly herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by a pelvic structure superficially similar to that of birds. The name ''Ornithischia'', or "bird-hipped", reflects this similarity and is derived from the Greek stem ' (), meaning "bird", and ' (), meaning "hip". However, as theropod dinosaurs, birds are only distantly related to this group. Ornithischians with well known anatomical adaptations include the ceratopsians or "horn-faced" dinosaurs (e.g. ''Triceratops''), the pachycephalosaurs or "thick-headed" dinosaurs, the armored dinosaurs ( Thyreophora) such as stegosaurs and ankylosaurs, and the ornithopods. There is strong evidence that certain groups of ornithischians lived in herds, often segregated by age group, with juveniles forming their own flocks separate from adults. Some were at least partially covered in filamentous (hair- or feather- like) pelts, and there is much debate over whether these filaments found in specimens of '' Ti ...
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Smok (archosaur)
''Smok'' (meaning "dragon" in Polish language, Polish) is an extinct genus of large carnivorous archosaur. It lived during the Late Triassic, latest Triassic period (geology), period (latest Norian to early Rhaetian stage, between 208.5–205 mya (unit), Ma). Its remains have been found in Lisowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Lisowice, southern Poland. The Monotypic taxon, only species is ''Smok wawelski'' (after the Wawel Dragon, a dragon from Polish folklore) and was named in 2012 in paleontology, 2012. It is larger than any other known predatory archosaur from the Late Triassic or Early Jurassic of central Europe. The relation of ''Smok'' to other archosaurs has not yet been thoroughly studied; it may be a rauisuchidae, rauisuchid, prestosuchidae, prestosuchid, an ornithosuchid pseudosuchian (part of the crocodilian lineage of archosaurs) or a theropod dinosaur. Description At an estimated in length, ''Smok'' was the largest carnivorous archosaur in central Europe in the time it ...
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Pisanosaurus
''Pisanosaurus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of early dinosauriform, likely an ornithischian or silesaurid, from the Late Triassic of Argentina. It was a small, lightly built, ground-dwelling herbivore, that could grow up to an estimated long. Only one species, the type, ''Pisanosaurus mertii'', is known, based on a single partial skeleton discovered in the Ischigualasto Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina. This part of the formation has been dated to the late Carnian, approximately 229 million years ago. Discovery and naming ''Pisanosaurus'' is known from a single fragmented skeleton discovered in 1962 by Galileo Juan Scaglia at the Hoyada del Cerro Las Lajas locality (also known as Agua de Las Catas) in the Ischigualasto Formation of La Rioja Province, Argentina. The genus is based on a specimen given the designation PVL 2577, which consists of a partial skull including a fragmentary right maxilla with teeth, and incomplete right ...
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Nyasasaurus
''Nyasasaurus'' (meaning " Lake Nyasa lizard") is an extinct genus of avemetatarsalian archosaur from the putatively Middle Triassic Manda Formation of Tanzania that may be the earliest known dinosaur. The type species ''Nyasasaurus parringtoni'' was first described in 1956 in the doctoral thesis of English paleontologist Alan J. Charig, but it was not formally described until 2013. Previously, the oldest record of dinosaurs was from Brazil and Argentina and dated back to the mid-late Carnian stage, about 233.23 to 231.4 million years ago. ''Nyasasaurus'' comes from a deposit conventionally considered Anisian in age, meaning that it would predate other early dinosaurs by about 12 million years. Some studies cast doubt on this age, suggesting that the deposits may actually be Carnian in age, which would considerably reduce this temporal gap. However, this claim has been heavily disputed, and more accurate dating methods are needed to resolve the debate. History of study In the 19 ...
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Nhandumirim
''Nhandumirim'' (meaning "small Rhea (bird), rhea" in the Tupi language) is a genus of basal Sauropodomorpha, sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Carnian age of Late Triassic Brazil. It is currently considered a Saturnaliidae, saturnaliid sauropodomorph. The type species, type and only species, ''Nhandumirim waldsangae'', is known from a single immature specimen including vertebrae, a , pelvic material, and a hindlimb found in the Santa Maria Formation in Rio Grande do Sul. ''Nhandumirim'' is differentiated from other Santa Maria dinosaurs such as ''Staurikosaurus'' and ''Saturnalia tupiniquim, Saturnalia'' on the basis of its more gracile, long-legged proportions and several more specific skeletal features. However, it is noteworthy that the holotype of ''Nhandumirim'' is an immature individual. Several features of the tibia led the describers of the genus and species to consider ''Nhandumirim'' ''waldsangae'' possibly the earliest Theropoda, theropod, but some analyses in their s ...
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Eodromaeus
''Eodromaeus'' (meaning "dawn runner") is an extinct genus of probable basal (phylogenetics), basal theropod dinosaurs from the Late Triassic of Argentina. Like many other of the earliest-known dinosaurs, it hails from the Carnian-age (~230 Ma) Ischigualasto Formation, within the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin of northwestern Argentina. Upon its discovery, it was argued to be one of the oldest true theropods, supplanting its contemporary ''Eoraptor'', which was reinterpreted as a basal sauropodomorph.Martínez et al., 2011 Discovery Fossils from ''Eodromaeus'' were first discovered in 1996 by Argentinean paleontologist Ricardo N. Martinez and Earthwatch Institute, Earthwatch volunteer Jim Murphy, and it was first believed that the fossils were a new species of ''Eoraptor''. However, as the researchers started to take a closer look at the fossils, they found that it had many skeletal features which were absent in ''Eoraptor'', and they understood that it came from a new genus. ...
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Daemonosaurus
''Daemonosaurus'' is an extinct genus of possible theropod dinosaur from the Late Triassic of New Mexico. The only known fossil is a skull and neck fragments from deposits of the latest Triassic Chinle Formation at Ghost Ranch. ''Daemonosaurus'' was an unusual dinosaur with a short skull and large, fang-like teeth. It lived alongside early Neotheropoda, neotheropods such as ''Coelophysis'', which would have been among the most common dinosaurs by the end of the Triassic. However, ''Daemonosaurus'' retains several Plesiomorphy and symplesiomorphy, plesiomorphic ("primitive") traits of the snout, and it likely lies outside the clade Neotheropoda. It may be considered a late-surviving basal (phylogenetics), basal theropod or non-theropod basal Saurischia, saurischian, possibly allied to other early predatory dinosaurs such as Herrerasauridae, herrerasaurids or ''Tawa hallae, Tawa''. Discovery ''Daemonosaurus'' is known from a single fossil, the holotype CM 76821, which consists of ...
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Chindesaurus
''Chindesaurus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of basal saurischian dinosaur from the Late Triassic (213-210 million years ago) of the southwestern United States. It is known from a single species, ''C. bryansmalli'', based on a partial skeleton recovered from Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. The original specimen was nicknamed "Gertie", and generated much publicity for the park upon its discovery in 1984 and airlift out of the park in 1985. Other fragmentary referred specimens have been found in Late Triassic sediments throughout Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, but these may not belong to the genus. ''Chindesaurus'' was a bipedal carnivore, approximately as large as a wolf.Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2012) ''Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages,'Winter 2011 Appendix. ''Chindesaurus''s classification is debated, and various papers have had different conclusions on its affinities. Its fossils were originally believed to belong to "pro ...
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Chilesaurus
''Chilesaurus'' is an extinct genus of herbivorous dinosaur. While its exact classification is uncertain, many researchers believe it is a theropod, with a minority of academics suggesting that it may be an ornithischian. The type and only known species so far is ''Chilesaurus diegosuarezi''. ''Chilesaurus'' lived between 148-147 million years ago (Mya) in the Late Jurassic period of Chile. Showing a combination of traits from theropods, ornithischians, and sauropodomorphs, this genus has far-reaching implications for the evolution of dinosaurs, such as whether the traditional saurischian-ornithischian split is superior or inferior to the proposed group Ornithoscelida. This however, has been contested by several other authors, who believe that the weight of evidence supports its membership within Theropoda, and possibly as a member of Tetanurae. Discovery and naming ''Chilesaurus'' was first discovered on 4 February 2004 by a seven-year-old named Diego Suárez. He and his ...
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