clade · 48 represented species
Theropoda
Theropoda is a diverse lineage of ancestrally bipedal dinosaurs that includes large predators, many small feathered forms and all living birds.
Definition
Characteristics and significance
Theropods document the origin of birds and flight while also including many of the dominant terrestrial predators of the Mesozoic.
- Ancestrally bipedal stance
- Three principal weight-bearing toes
- Hollow or air-filled bones in many lineages
Name meaning: Beast foot
Branch structure
Direct branches in this dataset
Representative taxa
Dinosaurs in this branch
A large Early Jurassic predator from Navajo Nation lands in Arizona, distinguished by two thin crests built from several skull bones. It was far larger and more powerfully constructed than its small, venom-spitting film counterpart—and no fossil supports either venom or a neck frill.
Distribution
Geographic record
United States · Argentina · Madagascar · India · Egypt · Morocco · Niger · United Kingdom · Algeria · Spain · Germany · France · China · Mexico · Mongolia · Canada · Antarctica
Country-level summary of represented seed records, not a complete range map.
Sources





