#hadrosauroid

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Trick or treat! :]

Equijubus!

[new-dinosaurs]

Qianjiangsaurus changshengi Dai et al., 2024 (new genus and species)

(Vertebrae and hip bones of Qianjiangsaurus changshengi [scale bar = 20 cm], from Dai et al., 2024)

Meaning of name: Qianjiangsaurus = Qianjiang lizard [in Greek]; changshengi = for Wang Changsheng [the first to formally report Cretaceous dinosaur fossils from Chongqing]

Age: Late Cretaceous (more precise age uncertain, but probably sometime within the Campanian–Maastrichtian)

Where found: Zhengyang Formation, Chongqing, China

How much is known: Partial skeleton of one individual, including parts of the skull, hips, and hindlimbs.

Notes: Qianjiangsaurus was a hadrosauroid, closely related to but not a member of the "core group" of duck-billed dinosaurs (hadrosaurids). Its overall anatomy is typical for a non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid, but it also exhibits some features more commonly found in true hadrosaurids. It is estimated to have been about 8 m long in total body length.

(Schematic skeletal of Qianjiangsaurus changshengi [scale bar = 1 m], with preserved bones in white, from Dai et al., 2024)

Reference: Dai, H., Q. Ma, C. Xiong, Y. Lin, H. Zeng, C. Tan, J. Wang, Y. Zhang, and H. Xing. 2024. A new late-diverging non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from southwest China: support for interchange of dinosaur faunas across East Asia during the Late Cretaceous. Cretaceous Research advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105995

[unexpecteddinolesson]

Koshisaurus

Koshisaurus is a basal hadrosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of what is now Japan. Its discovery suggests that hadrosauroids had higher diversity along the eastern margin of Asia in the Early Cretaceous. As a hadrosauroid, Koshisaurus was more derived than iguanodontidae, but more basal than true hadrosaurs.

[adamworks]

Day 2 - Gonkoken, hadrosauroid from the Late Cretaceous in the Magallanes region, Chile, described in 2023

[typhlonectes]

An early-diverging iguanodontian (Dinosauria: Rhabdodontomorpha) from the Late Cretaceous of North America

Lindsay E. Zanno ,Terry A. Gates, Haviv M. Avrahami, Ryan T. Tucker, Peter J. Makovicky

Abstract

Intensifying macrovertebrate reconnaissance together with refined age-dating of mid-Cretaceous assemblages in recent decades is producing a more nuanced understanding of the impact of the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum on terrestrial ecosystems. 

Here we report discovery of a new early-diverging ornithopod, Iani smithi gen. et sp. nov., from the Cenomanian-age lower Mussentuchit Member, Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah, USA. 

The single known specimen of this species (NCSM 29373) includes a well-preserved, disarticulated skull, partial axial column, and portions of the appendicular skeleton. Apomorphic traits are concentrated on the frontal, squamosal, braincase, and premaxilla, including the presence of three premaxillary teeth. Phylogenetic analyses using parsimony and Bayesian inference posit Iani as a North American rhabdodontomorph based on the presence of enlarged, spatulate teeth bearing up to 12 secondary ridges, maxillary teeth lacking a primary ridge, a laterally depressed maxillary process of the jugal, and a posttemporal foramen restricted to the squamosal, among other features. 

Prior to this discovery, neornithischian paleobiodiversity in the Mussentuchit Member was based primarily on isolated teeth, with only the hadrosauroid Eolambia caroljonesa named from macrovertebrate remains. Documentation of a possible rhabdodontomorph in this assemblage, along with published reports of an as-of-yet undescribed thescelosaurid, and fragmentary remains of ankylosaurians and ceratopsians confirms a minimum of five, cohabiting neornithischian clades in earliest Late Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems of North America. 

Due to poor preservation and exploration of Turonian–Santonian assemblages, the timing of rhabdodontomorph extirpation in the Western Interior Basin is, as of yet, unclear. However, Iani documents survival of all three major clades of Early Cretaceous neornithischians (Thescelosauridae, Rhabdodontomorpha, and Ankylopollexia) into the dawn of the Late Cretaceous of North America.

Read the paper here: 

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0286042

[dynamoterror1011]

Work-in-progress sketch of a size chart of all terrestrial vertebrates from the Bajo de la Carpa formation (for a personal project of mine). The hadrosauroid and Azhdarchid are speculative editions, based on animals from nearby places at different times that may have had relatives at Bajo de la Carpa.

[misterrogers22]

Welcome to the Juras-Sick Park-Cast podcast, the Jurassic Park podcast about Michael Crichton's 1990 novel Jurassic Park, and also not about that, too. 

Find the episode webpage at: Episode 73 - The Visitor's Center.

In this episode (stream it here), my terrific guest Lindsey Kinsella returns to the show to chat with me about:

the carnotaurus, his novel The Lazarus Taxa, neat twists, his novel The Heart of Pangea, Dimetrodon narrators, naming characters, "That moment" in the book, Thylacines, Homotheriums, his new book Broken Voyage, writing from an animal's point of view, his upcoming writing projects, and much more!

Find his new book, Broken Voyage available at this link: link!

Book review:Stranded in the Arctic, the international crew of an illegal whaler find themselves in a race for survival. Can they survive the cold, the sea, and, most of all, each other?

Pushed to desperation in a bleak world ravaged by climate change, Lora M’Bandi flees her homeland to join a group of unlikely outcasts aboard the whaling ship Livyatan. When an explosion rips through the vessel, the crew become shipwrecked deep inside the Arctic Circle—sabotaged by one of their own. Now, they must trek across the treacherous sea ice to reach dry land before the ice retreats—all the while with a traitor in their midst and fearsome predators stalking their every move.

Plus dinosaur news about:

A new late-diverging non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from southwest China: support for interchange of dinosaur faunas across East Asia during the Late Cretaceous. (Qianjiangsaurus changshengi)

A new titanosaur from the La Colonia Formation (Campanian-Maastrichtian), Chubut Province, Argentina. (Titanomachya gimenezi) 

Featuring the music of Snale https://snalerock.bandcamp.com/

Intro: Chinese Cafe, and the Outro: Death of a Dream.

Then:  

Jurassic Park (1993): Sc. 8 "The Visitor Center"

David Koepp's first draft, and Malia Scotch-Marmo's rewrite of Michael Crichton's draft of the script. 

Corrections:

Side effects: 

May cause you to become a mainstream science denier, and definitely someone who doesn't believe everything they read! 

Find it on iTunes, on Spotify (click here!) or on Podbean (click here).

Thank you!

The Jura-Sick Park-cast is a part of the Spring Chickens banner of amateur intellectual properties including the Spring Chickens funny pages, Tomb of the Undead graphic novel, the Second Lapse graphic novelettes, The Infantry, and the worst of it all, the King St. Capers.

You can find links to all that baggage in the show notes, or by visiting the schickens.blogpost.com or finding us on Facebook, at Facebook.com/SpringChickenCapers or on Youtube by searching for the “Juras-Sick Park-Cast podcast” or on Tumblr @misterrogers22 or on X at @RogersRyan22 or email me at ryansrogers-at-gmail.com. 

Thank you, dearly, for tuning in to the Juras-Sick Park-Cast, the Jurassic Park podcast where we talk about the novel Jurassic Park, and also not that, too. Until next time! 

#JurassicPark #MichaelCrichton

[alphynix]

Island Weirdness #07 -- Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus

The hadrosauroid dinosaur Telmatosaurus was another resident of Hațeg Island, and while it wasn’t quite as small or specialized as its cousin Tethyshadros it was still dwarfed compared to their other relatives, only growing to about 5m long (16'4").

It was also the first dinosaur fossil found with a specific type of non-cancerous tumor known as an ameloblastoma on its lower jaw -- a surprising discovery, since ameloblastomas were previously only known to occur in mammals and a single snake species. Various other types of abnormal tissue growth have been identified in other hadrosauroids and hadrosaurs, however, suggesting that this particular lineage of dinosaurs may have been unusually susceptible to developing tumors.

[mr-rackham]

Hi, this is the Holocene Dinosaur Project.

Imagine a world where 66 million years ago the Chicxulub asteroid escaped the Earth and didn't wipe out the great minds of the species, including the non-bird dinosaurs.

Imagine dinosaurs continuing their evolution.

New species and families appear, while others disappear.

What is more likely to affect their evolution are changes in climate during the Tertiary. The initially tropical hot and humid climate became cooler and drier. And the rainforests of the Palaeocene became thinner and thinner, giving way to savannahs.

On the other hand, since no asteroid impacts occurred, dinosaur evolution could have continued. Palaeontologists believe that a kind of faunal shift began in the Late Cretaceous, with large herbivores slowly disappearing and giving way to other groups.

This shift was completed by the middle of the Palaeocene. This is when the last large ceratopsids and hadrosauroids disappeared. They were replaced by the large-clawed therizinosauroids and the diverse Oviraptosaurosids.

They were hunted by the still apex predators Tyrannosauroids and Dromaeosauroids.

As the Palaeocene forests thinned and the understorey became richer with the influx of sunlight, the small, hitherto cavernous Leptoceratopsids and the marsh-dwelling Thescelosauroids became more abundant. Their ability to chew and the development of a multipart digestive system accelerated their spread.

During the Eocene, the European continent, which had been an island continent, collided with Asia, and Ludoceratopsidea and other groups migrating from North America entered the new continent and displaced the extant Iguanodontidea and Titanosauroidea dinosaurs. But this mozzabat created the perfect situation for another character in the story to take the stage. Although the descendants of Balaur may look like Dromaeosauroids on the outside, this is merely the result of convergent evolution. In fact, the birds' relatives and ancestors may have arrived on the islands in flight and then become flightless due to lack of competition. Over millions of years, their descendants migrate further west and these terrormorphic predators become the food competitors of the Tyrannosauroids. They will then displace their last representatives.

This is what the world looks like. The savannahs are roamed by four-legged, parrot-beaked herbivores, resembling feathered gazelles, and stalked by bird-like predators.

I'm going to show you the corners of this alternative land in this article, with pictures

[goldenvicious]

Right you asked for this the other day so here we go, All 29 dinosaurs discovered this year

Therapoda

-Ceratosuchops, spinosaur found on the Isle of Wight -Riparovenator, same as above [Anthem's Best Name Award] -Ulughbegsaurus, Uzbekistani carcharodontosaur -Pendraig, basal therapod from Pant-y-ffynnon, Wales -Llukalkan, Argentian abelisaur -Kurupi, Brazilian abelisaur -Kansaignathus, Tajikstani dromaeosaur -Shri, Mongolian dromaeosaur -Ypupiara, unenlagiine dromaeosaur from Brazil -Tamarro, Spanish troodontid -Papilliovenator, Chinese troodontid

Ornithopoda

-Meneffeeceratops, ceratopsian found in New Mexico USA -Sierraceratops, same as above, but a chasmosaur rather than a centrosaur -Sinocephale, new name for Chinese Stegoceras species -Spicomellus, ankylosaurian from Morocco, with spikes fused onto its ribs [Anthem's Funkiest Discovery Award] -Tlatolophus, Mexican parasaurolophin hadrosaur -Ornatops, New Mexican brachylophosaurin hadrosaur -Yamatosaurus, basal Japanese hadrosaur -Portellosaurus, Spanish hadrosauroid -Fylax, Spanish hadrosauromorph -Napaisaurus, Chinese iguanodontian

Sauropoda

-Australotitan, Australian titanosaur -Hamititan, Chinese titanosaur -Ninjatitan, Argentinian titanosaur [Anthem's Worst Name Award] -Menucocelsior, another Argentianian titanosaur -Arrudititan, Brazillian titanosaur -Arackar, Chilean titanosaur -Silutitan, Chinese euhelopodid -Dzharatitanis, Uzbkistani rebbachiosaur

The fact that it's nearly the end of the year and i didn't hear about any of these before astounds me

Ty for telling me!

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Trick or treat!

Gobihadros!

Please do not send me more trick or treat asks, I am only answering the ones I could not get to after I hit post limit last night, it is Nov 1st we have other shenanigans to attend to!

[new-dinosaurs]

Gonkoken nanoi Alarcón-Muñoz et al., 2023 (new genus and species)

(Select bones and schematic skeletal of Gonkoken nanoi [scale bars = 50 mm for B–G, J, K–N, Q, S, and V–X, and 100 mm for H, I, O, P, R, T, and U], with preserved bones in white, from Alarcón-Muñoz et al., 2023)

Meaning of name: Gonkoken = duck/swan-like [in Tehuelche]; nanoi = for Mario “Nano” Ulloa [discoverer of dinosaur bones at the site where the original fossils were found]

Age: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), between 70.5–71.7 million years ago

Where found: Dorotea Formation, Magallanes, Chile

How much is known: Numerous bones including parts of the skull, limbs, hips, and vertebral column. It is unknown whether any of these bones belonged to the same individuals, though at least three individuals are represented.

Notes: Gonkoken was a hadrosauroid, closely related to but not a member of the “core group” of duck-billed dinosaurs (hadrosaurids). All other hadrosauroids previously named from South America were true hadrosaurids. In fact, prior to the discovery of Gonkoken, non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroids near the end of the Cretaceous were not known from the Americas.

However, reexamination of supposed hadrosaurid fossils from Southern Patagonia and Antarctica suggests that these may also be remains of non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroids. It might have been that hadrosaurids (which probably originated in the Northern Hemisphere) never made it to the southern reaches of South America prior to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, allowing other types of hadrosauroids to persist there in the absence of competition.

Reference: Alarcón-Muñoz, J., A.O. Vargas, H.P. Püschel, S. Soto-Acuña, L. Manríquez, M. Leppe, J. Kaluza, V. Milla, C.S. Gutstein, J. Palma-Liberona, W. Stinnesbeck, E. Frey, J.P. Pino, D. Bajor, E. Núñez, H. Ortiz, D. Rubilar-Rogers, and P. Cruzado-Caballero. 2023. Relict duck-billed dinosaurs survived into the last age of the dinosaurs in subantarctic Chile. Science Advances 9: eadg2456. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adg2456

[unexpecteddinolesson]

Tethyshadros

Tethyshadros is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur from Italy. Its name references the Tethys Sea, a prehistoric ocean during much of the Mesozoic Era of which the Mediterranean Sea is a remnant. Tethyshadros was relatively small for a hadrosaur, at about 4.5 m in length, and weighing around 500 kg. As a hadrosaur, Tethyshadros was a beaked animal with a hand formed into a fleshy pad and three-toed feet. The beak was unique in its snowplow-like shape, which was pointed, and serrated rather than smooth.

[smylealong]

Last post on the series “Life Finds a Way,” this post has creatures   from the letters W to Z + bonus. The rest of the series can be seen here: Part  1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

 1. Wiwaxia (Top left) Genus*: Wiwaxia. Time: Cambrian- Ordovician (520-505 mya). Length: 5 centimetres (2.0 in). Weight: Since most animals from this era were soft bodied creatures with a chitinous/carbonaceous protection, all we have in fossil records are just imprints left on the rocks. It is very difficult to estimate the weight of these creatures.

2. Waptia (Top right) Genus: Waptia. Time: Middle Cambrian (509-497 mya). Length: 8 centimetres (3.1 in). Weight: Look above.

3. Xiphactinus (Bottom left) Genus: Bony predatory fish. Time: Early to late Cretaceous (112-66mya). Length: 5.1 metres (16.7 ft). Weight: Approx 1000lbs (453.5kgs)

4. Xuwulong (Bottom right) Genus: hadrosauroid dinosaur. Time: Early Cretaceous (145-100.5mya). Size: Since the creature is known from an incomplete holotype** specimen, size estimates are unavailable.

1. Yawunik (Top left): Genus: Arthropod. Time: Cambrian Period (508mya). Size: Data not available. 

2. Yinlong (Top right): Genus: Balas Ceratopsian. Time: Late Jurassic (158mya). Length:  1.2 metres (3.9 ft). Weight: 15 kilograms (33 lb)

3. Zygosaurus (Bottom left): Genus: dissorophid temnospondyl. Time: Middle Permian (272.3-259 .8mya).  Size: Since it is known from a holotype specimen, the size estimates are unavailable. However, the skull, which is 20cm long, indicates that this maybe one of the largest dissorophid.

4. Zuul (Bottom right): (This is the dinosaur, not the monster from Ghostbusters). Genus: ankylosaurine dinosaur. Time: Late Cretaceous (75mya)  Length:  6 metres (20 ft) Weight of 2.5 tonnes (5,500 lb)

BONUS:

I realized a couple of days ago, that even though I have included the oldest known lifeform (Stromatolites) in the series, I have stayed mostly in the time period known as Phanerozoic eon, which starts from the Cambrian and extends till today, i.e. (541mya- current date). I have not given any information about a very interesting phase of life in that existed in the Proterozoic eon (2500mya-541mya). While for the most part, the planet was cooling down, there was a time near the end of the eon, known as the Ediacaran (635-541mya) , where strange, complex life forms began to appear. They are collectively known as the Ediacaran Biota. These were composed of enigmatic tubular and frond-shaped, mostly sessile***, organisms. Trace fossils of these organisms have been found worldwide, and represent the earliest known complex multicellular organisms.

* Genus:  A  genus (plural genera) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological   classification of living and fossil organisms, as well as viruses,in   biology. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes   above species and below family. 

**Holotype: A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described.

***Sessile: Sessility is the biological property of an organism describing its lack of a means of self-locomotion.

Please feel free to DM me if you have any questions.

[fuzzkaizer]

marpac corporation - marsona 1200

so this is the fabulous, cute surf-rain-waterfall-machine...

a white noise generator with somewhat restricted additional features: surf I - very slow speed adjustable tremolo, surf II - a very slow speed adjustable irregular repeating tremolo pattern, rain - tone adjustable white noise, waterfall - tone adjustable pinke noise; actually the pinkest rain setting equals the brightest waterfall setting;

besides it has a little amp with a 8Ohm-3Watt speaker

similar to certain hadrosauroids, one might wonder what’s under that marsona’s big helmet - just to find out that it is quite empty. now there are speculations about sonic advantages of that hypertrophic form, and about the question, what might be a convincing looking sleep conditioner...

anyway, that hood is hot-glued to the top of the speaker compartment, a plastic part that is rather not built for service, maintainance or replacement of broken parts.

[jurassicsunsets]

Do you have any resources that could give me a good overall explanation of dinosaur classification? I’m pretty new to paleoblr and I get mixed up with all of the names floating around. Thanks and sorry if I bothered you!

I don’t - but I’ll be happy to write a bit!

1. What is a “Dinosaur”?

This may seem obvious, but it’s a bit more subtle. To scientists, “Dinosauria” is a group containing the most recent creature that was the ancestor of T. rex, Triceratops, and Brontosaurus, and everything descended from that ancestor. This means that birds, as descendants of dinosaurs, are included under that definition, while pterosaurs and most mesozoic sea reptiles like plesiosaurs are not.

This kind of group is called a “node-based group”, and is written as (Tyrannosaurus+Triceratops+Brontosaurus).

There’s also “stem-based groups”, which is “everything closer related to X than to Y”. A good example of this is reptilia, which is something like (Alligator>Homo) [that is, everything closer to alligators than to people!].

2. 3 main groups

There’s three main groups of dinosaurs - theropods, sauropodomorphs, and ornithischians. The simplest (though not always accurate) way of thinking about these is that theropods are two-legged meat-eaters, sauropodomorphs are long-necked plant eaters, and ornithischians are beaked plant-eaters.

For a long time it was accepted that theropods and sauropodomorphs were each others’ closest relatives, in a group called saurischia, and that this group was in turn the closest relatives of ornithischians. Recent analyses show that this may not be entirely accurate - it may be that theropods and ornithischians are united in a group called ornithoscelida, and that sauropodomorphs are the closest relative of this group. There’s good reasons to think each is true, and there’s going to need to be more research done in the future, and hopefully more fossils will straighten things out.

3. Ornithischia

Nearly all ornithischians have three things in common: 

They’re mainly herbivores

They have a special bone on their lower jaw called a predentary that formed part of a beak

Part of their hips faces backwards, allowing more room for guts (important because plants are hard to digest!)

There’s three main groups of ornithischians, as well as a bunch that don’t really fit into any of those groups.

The most significant of these “oddballs” are the heterodontosaurs, a group of early ornithischians that mainly lived in the jurassic and triassic periods. They’re generally small (60-200cm in length) two-legged omnivores or herbivores that had big fangs that were probably used for display. They’re kind of the weird cousins of all other ornithischians.

Thyreophorans

This literally means “shield bearers”, and as you might expect it includes the armoured dinosaurs like Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus. It also includes some weird early forms like Scutellosaurus. It’s defined as (Ankylosaurus>Triceratops).

>Eurypods

This is specifically (Stegosaurus+Ankylosaurus), so it’s contained within thyreophora.

>>Ankylosauria

This is (Ankylosaurus>Stegosaurus), and contains the most heavily armoured dinosaurs. It’s divided into Ankylosauridae (ones with tail clubs), Nodosauridae (which have bigger shoulder spikes), and possibly also Polacanthidae (which have more sticky-up spikes, but also might just be nodosaurids)

>>Stegosauridae

This is (Stegosaurus>Ankylosaurus), and contains the familiar plated dinosaurs. It includes Stegosauridae (the big ones like Stegosaurus) and Huayangosauridae (some smaller Chinese forms).

Neornithischia

This group is defined as (Parasaurolophus>Stegosaurus/Ankylosaurus). It contains two major groups - the Marginocephalians and the Ornithopods, but also a bunch of important basal members, like Thescelosauridae, Kulindadromeus and Hypsilophodon - animals that were once thought to be ornithopods but probably aren’t.

Marginocephalia

This is (Pachycephalosaurus+Triceratops). The name means “rimmed head”, because….both major groups have big stuff around their heads.

>Pachycephalosauria 

These are the “bone-headed” dinosaurs like Pachycephalosaurus. It’s (Pachycephalosaurus>Triceratops)

>Ceratopsia

This is (Triceratops>Pachycephalosaurus), and contains the beakiest of all dinosaurs. Chaoyangosaurids are frill-less, hornless, 2-legged forms; Bagaceratopsids, Leptoceratopsids, and Protoceratopsids are hornless but increasingly frilled and 4-legged groups.

>>Ceratopsidae

This is (Centrosaurus+Triceratops), and contains the big, 4-legged, horned guys. Centrosaurines usually have smaller frills with big horns around them, smaller brow horns, and bigger nose horns, while Chasmosaurines usually have bigger frills, bigger brow horns, and smaller nose horns.

Ornithopoda

This is (Parasaurolophus>Triceratops). It used to contain a bunch more stuff, but now it mostly contains just Iguanodonts, so for most purposes those are the same thing (except for some southern forms called Elasmaria that don’t come up much). Doesn’t matter as much as it used to; them’s the breaks. It includes Rhabdodontids, a weirdogroup of small bipedal guys from Europe, and Dryomorpha.

>>Dryomorpha

This is (Dryosaurus+Iguanodon). It contains Dryosauridae, a group of fast-running ornithopods, and Ankylopollexians, the group that had the famous “thumb-spikes). 

>>>Styracosterna

Except for a few species, this is about the same as Ankylopollexia. It contains a bunch of species, most of which used to just be called Iguanodon, as well as the Hadrosauriformes, which contains the Hadrosauroids, which contains the Hadrosauromorphs, which contains the Hadrosaurids (whew!)

>>>>Harosauridae

These are the “Duck-bills”. It contains the Lambeosaurines, which had big long hollow crests they could use to HONK !, as well as the Hadrosaurines, which didn’t have hollow crests.

4. Sauropodomorpha

This group is mainly made up of long-necked plant eaters. It starts off with a bunch of things we used to call “Prosauropods”, but now call…….basal sauropodomorphs. It may include Herrersauridae (Pedants be quiet), a group of early, early predators. It probably includes Guaibasaurids, a group of small omnivores from the triassic. It also includes Plateosaurids, a group of larger (but still bipedal), long-necked herbivores. From here we go into Massopoda, a group that includes Massospondylids and Riojasaurids, which…are similar to plateosaurids, as well as Sauropodiformes.

Sauropodiformes is where we start to get more sauropod-y, though we still have to zoom through Anchisauria to get to actual sauropods. We’re there now.

Sauropoda

These guys are actually quadrupedal! Here we’ve got….more sliding groups. There’s a bunch of early sauropods that are quite cool, but I’m not gonna name them. The fun group is Gravisauria. This includes some early guys calls Vulcanodonts, and Eusauropods,

Eusauropods include – you guessed it! More grades. There’s some interesting features here though - Mamenchisaurids are a bunch of Chinese forms with super long necks, and I can’t say I know anything remarkable about Turiasaurs. You’ll have to talk to John about that one.

Neosauropoda

Here’s where you’ll start recognising things if you haven’t already. This is (Saltasaurus+Diplodocus), and contains the most famous sauropods. It’s split into two main groups.

>Diplodocoidea

There are the “whip-tails” (again, pedants be quiet!). It contains Dicraeosaurids,  a few weird, short-necked, double sailed things, Rebbachisaurids, a group of wide-mouthed weirdos, and Diplodocids, the famous great swan-necked ones that are some of the largest dinosaurs ever.

>Macronaria

This group contains some basal forms like Camarasaurus, and two main groups (Maybe?? This is kind of a contentious area). Brachiosaurids include the giant, super-tall ones, and some little ones also. Then there’s the monster that is Somphospondyli. This contains….more grades, the Euhelopodids, and the Titanosaurs.

>>Titanosauria.

This is a real monster, let me tell you. It includes more grades – yay! – and Lithostrotia. 

>>>Lithostrotia

This is where titanosaurs start getting armoured (except it’s not really that simple, since others have armour, and it may have evolved multiple times, and…..lots of stuff). It also includes the real giants like Lognkosaurs, Aeolosaurs, and Saltasaurs.

5. Theropods

These are the two-legged meat-eaters – although many are omnivorous or herbivorous! They include some early forms and Neotheropods. (From here on, except when notes, groups in big font include the rest of the groups listed below).

Neotheropods

These include the early, long-necked Coelophysoids and Dilophosaurids (which may well be more advanced possibly even Tetenurans!). This group also contains the:

Averostrans

Literally “bird beaks”, although they didn’t all have beaks. It includes the Ceratosaurs, a group that contains some weird forms, and the Abelisaurs (large, short-armed, and bulldog faced) and the Noasaurs (Small, longer arms, need a good orthodontist).

Averostrans also include the:

Tetenurans

Named after their stiffened tails, around here is where theropods lost their fourth finger. After some basal forms it includes the:

>Megalosauroids

These consist of two main groups - the heavily built Megalosaurids and the fish-specialist Spinosaurids.

Tetenurae also includes the:

Avetheropods

This consists of the Carnosaurs and the Coelurosaurs.

>Carnosaurs

These are your big sauropod killers. They include Metriacanthosaurids and Allosaurids, as well as Carcharodontosaurians. This last group is divided into Carcharodontosaurids, which includes some of the largest predators ever to walk the Earth, and the Neovenatorids, a smaller group that MAY contain the Megaraptorans.

The other group of avetheropods is the:

Coelurosaurs

This is the earliest that we can definitively say, with pretty good certainty, that all members had feathers. It includes some basal forms and the:

Tyannoraptors

….which hands-down win the coolest name competition. This group includes the Tyrannosauroids, which I’m sure need no introduction.

It may also include the famously small Compsognathids, but those may also be outside tyrannoraptora.

It also contains the:

Maniraptoriformes

This group is the earliest we can say that all members had wings. It includes the famous “ostrich dinosaurs” or Ornithomimosaurs, and the:

Maniraptora

This group is where we first see the wing-folding ability like in modern birds. It includes the tiny, 1-fingered Alvarezsauroids and, at the other end of the spectrum, the giant, long-necked, pot-bellied, wickedly-clawed, plant-eating Therizinosaurs. It also includes the:

Pennaraptors

This group is the earliest place we see true vaned feathers. It includes the Oviraptorosauria, a group of typically beaked and crested omnivores and herbivores, as well as the

Eumaniraptors

AKA Paravians - it’s the difference between a stem-based and node-based group, but they’re essentially the same.

This group includes the really birdy things, like Anchiornis and the dragon-like Scansoriopterygids (really rolls off the tongue after some practice, I promise!). It also includes the famous “Raptors” – the Dromaeosaurids. There’s also the sickle-clawed but more omnivorous or herbivorous Troodontids, famous for their brains. This latter group may be a sister group to Dromaeosauridae, or it may be closer to:

Avialae

This is (Passer>Troodon, Deinonychus). It’s what most scientists would call “birds”. It includes some early forms exemplified by Archaeopteryx and Jeholornis, as well as:

Pygostylia

This is birds with shortened, fused tails. It’s (Confuciusornis+Passer), and includes the cool streamer-tailed Confuciusornithids. It also includes:

Ornithothoraces

This group of birds is (Enantiornis+Passer). It includes the very successful and widespead (but now extinct) bird group called the Enantiornithines. It also includes the

Euornithines

This is where we first see birds with modern-style tails. It includes some basal forms at the 

Ornithuromorphs

This group contains some early groups, the Hongshanornithids and the Songlingornithids,  and the:

Ornithurans

This is sort of the “last burst” before we get to true birds! It includes the seagull-like Ichthyornis and the seal-like Hesperornithines. From here on out, everything is included in the:

Neornithines

We’ve made it! This is true birds - no teeth here. From here we’re divided into – What, did you think we were done? – we’re divided into the Palaeognaths and the Neognaths.

Palaeognaths include giant flightless birds like ostriches and emus, as well as the kiwi and the chicken-like Tinamids.

Neognaths

This contains all the familiar birds. 

One major group is the Galloanserans. 

These include the Odontoanseres, possibly* including the albatross-like Pelagornithids as well as the famous “horse-eating” (but actually vegetarian) Gastornithids and Dromornithids, and ducks, geese, swans, and screamer birds in Anseriformes.

*Pelagornithids may be more basal galloanserans or neognaths

Galloanserae also includes Pangalliformes, which consists of megapode fowl, chickens, turkeys, pheasants, peacocks, the whole shebang.

Neognathae also includes the:

Neoaves

From here taxonomy does get a bit muddled for a while. I’ll present the two major hypotheses.

1. Columbea/Passerea hypothesis

The Columbimorphs consists of Columbiformes or pigeons and doves, Pteroclidoformes or sandgrouse, and Mesitornithiformes or Mesites.

Columbimorphs may be closest to Mirandornithes, which consists of Phoenicopteriformes or flamingoes, and Podicepidiformes or grebes. If so, this clade is called Columbea.

The rest of the birds in this hypothesis belong in a clade called Passerea.

Otidomorphs are a group consisting of Otidids or bustards, Cuculiformes or cuckoos, and Musopagoformes or turacos.

Otidomorphs may be closest to Strisores, which include Apodiformes (Hummingbirds and swifts) and Caprimulgiformes (Nightjars, owlet-nightjars, and frogmouths). In this case their clade is Otidae, not to be confused with Otididae.

The rest of the birds in this hypothesis clade together in a clade called Litoritelluraves.

Gruae may be a group consisting of Opisthocomids (Hoatzins), Charadriiformes (Gulls, terns, puffins, plovers, sandpipers), and Gruiformes (Cranes, rails).

The rest of the birds in this hypothesis clade together in an unnamed clade.

This group contains the Telluraves (more on them later!) and the:

Ardeae

This consists of Eurypygimorphs, consisting of Eurypigids (Sunbitterns) and Phaethoniformes (Tropicbirds).

Ardeae may also include:

Aequornithes

This group of waterbirds includes Gaviiformes (divers/loons), Austrodyptornithes (a clade that includes Sphenisciformes [Penguins] and Procellariiformes [Albatrosses, petrels]), Ciconiiformes (Storks), Suliformes (Boobies, gannets, cormorants), and Pelicaniformes (Pelicans, herons, ibises).

2. Columbaves Hypothesis

Strisores may be the earliest to branch off of Neoaves.

Columbimorphs may alternatively be closest to Otidomorphs,  If so, this clade is called Columbaves.

The rest of the birds in this hypothesis clade together in an unnamed clade.

Gruiformes may have been the earliest to branch off in this clade.

The rest of the birds in this hypothesis clade together in an unnamed clade.

The Aequorlitornithes (Not to be confused with Aequornithes) may consist of Mirandornithes clading with Charadriiformes as a sister group to a clade between Eurypygimorphs and Aequornithes.

Also included in this unnamed clade is the

Inopaves

This may consist of Opisthocomids and Telluraves.

Telluraves – Back to your regularly scheduled program

There’s actually, to my knowledge, some degree of concensus here. It’s divided into two main groups - Afroaves and Australaves.

Australaves  consists of Cariamiformes (seriemas and terror birds) and Eufalconimorphae.

>Eufalconimorphae consists of Falconiformes (Falcons, kestrels, and caracaras), as well as Psittacopasserans.

>>Psittacopasserans consist of Psittacoformes (Parrots and their ilk) and Passeriformes (Perching birds, which I’m not going into more detail on because I’d be here for a month).

Afroaves

This clade consists of Accipterimophs (New-world vultures, hawks, eagles, old-world vultures, kites), and an unnamed clade.

Unnamed clade

This clade consists of Strigiformes (owls and kin) and Coraciimorphs.

Coraciimorphs

This clade consists of Coliiformes (mousebirds), the cuckoo-roller, and Cavitaves.

Cavitaves

This clade consists of the Trogonids (Trogons and Quetzals) and the Picocoraciae.

Picocoraciae

This clade consists of Bucerotiformes (Hornbills, hoopoes, woodhoopoes) and the Picodynastornithes.

Picodynastornithes

Last one! This consists of Coraciiformes (Kingfishers, rollers, motmots, and bee eaters), and the Piciformes, or toucans, barbets, and woodpeckers.