Saurischia

order of dinosaurs

Saurischia is one of the two orders of dinosaurs. In 1888, Harry Seeley classified dinosaurs into two main orders.[1] Their hip structure was why they were put into these orders. Saurischians ('lizard-hipped') and the ornithischians ('bird-hipped') have differences in the ways bones in the hip are put together.

Saurischia
Temporal range: Upper TriassicUpper Cretaceous (non-avian)
Eoraptor Japan.jpg
Replica skeleton of an Eoraptor
Scientific classification
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Saurischia

Seeley, 1887
Saurischian pelvis (left side)

All carnivorous dinosaurs (the theropods) are saurischians, and so are the sauropods like Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus.

Birds are direct descendants of a group of theropod dinosaurs,[2] so they are a sub-clade of saurischian dinosaurs in modern classification.

Related pagesEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. Seeley, H.G. (1888). "On the classification of the fossil animals commonly named Dinosauria." Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 43: 165-171.
  2. The dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. 2004. ISBN 978-0-520-94143-4. OCLC 801843269.