Megalosauroidea
superfamily of reptiles (fossil)
Megalosauroidea is a group of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. They lived from the Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous period. Members of the group include Spinosaurus, Megalosaurus, and Torvosaurus.
| Megalosauroids | |
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| Torvosaurus skeletal mount, Museum of Ancient Life | |
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| Spinosaurus skeletal mount, National Geographic Museum | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Orionides |
| Superfamily: | †Megalosauroidea Huxley, 1889 |
| Type species | |
| †Megalosaurus bucklandii Mantell, 1827
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| Subgroups | |
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| Synonyms | |
ClassificationEdit
The definition of the clade Megalosauroidea includes Megalosaurus bucklandii and all taxa that share a more recent common ancestor with it than they do with Allosaurus fragilis or the House Sparrow.[1]
Here is a cladogram showing the relationships between different members of Megalosauroidea. It is based on a study by Carrano, Benson & Sampson (2012).[2]
| Tetanurae |
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ReferencesEdit
- ↑ Benson, R.B.J. (2010). "A description of Megalosaurus bucklandii (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Bathonian of the UK and the relationships of Middle Jurassic theropods". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 158 (4): 882–935. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00569.x.
- ↑ Carrano, M. T.; Benson, R. B. J.; Sampson, S. D. (2012). "The phylogeny of Tetanurae (Dinosauria: Theropoda)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (2): 211–300. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.630927.
