The classic dinosaur family tree has two subdivisions of early dinosaurs at its base: the Ornithischians, or bird-hipped dinosaurs, and the Saurischians, or lizard-hipped dinosaurs. In this photo-illustration, a drawing of a bird-hipped Ornithiscian is surrounded by fossils of a Pisanosaurus, a small bipedal dinosaur whose fossils have been analyzed in a new study. Image: Bone images courtesy of the researchers. Edited by MIT News.
The classic dinosaur family tree has two subdivisions of early dinosaurs at its base: the Ornithischians, or bird-hipped dinosaurs, and the Saurischians, or lizard-hipped dinosaurs. In this photo-illustration, a drawing of a bird-hipped Ornithiscian is surrounded by fossils of a Pisanosaurus, a small bipedal dinosaur whose fossils have been analyzed in a new study. Image: Bone images courtesy of the researchers. Edited by MIT News. Geological evidence suggests the known dinosaur groups diverged early on, supporting the traditional dinosaur family tree. The classic dinosaur family tree has two subdivisions of early dinosaurs at its base: the Ornithischians, or bird-hipped dinosaurs, which include the later Triceratops and Stegosaurus ; and the Saurischians, or lizard-hipped dinosaurs, such as Brontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus . In 2017, however, this classical view of dinosaur evolution was thrown into question with evidence that perhaps the lizard-hipped dinosaurs evolved first - a finding that dramatically rearranged the first major branches of the dinosaur family tree.
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