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Dinosauria: SystematicsMove deeper into the systematics of dinosaur groups by selecting one of the boxes containing a picture.
With the discovery of many new species since the 1840s, the Dinosauria now contains two major groups of dinosaurs: the Ornithischia, or "bird-hipped" dinosaurs, and the Saurischia, or "lizard-hipped" dinosaurs. The division between the two groups was made by H.G. Seeley in 1888. The etymology behind the two names ("bird-hipped" vs. "lizard-hipped") is not very accurate, since some saurischians had bird-like hips, and ornithischians' hips were somewhat birdlike due to convergent evolution, not due to direct ancestry. In fact, birds are saurischians! Saurischia contains two main groups:
Ornithischia contains several groups of herbivorous dinosaurs, including several basal groups, but primarily three large ones:
Visit UCMP's Dinolinks for lists of all kinds of dinosaur-related resources. Sources:
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