theropods

Two-legged meat-eaters

Theropods are a group of bipedal dinosaurs that walked on two legs, including both fearsome predators like Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor and, unexpectedly, modern birds.

The name means "beast foot." Most theropods were carnivorous, though some evolved to eat plants or insects.

Paleontologists now classify birds as living theropods.

evolution

Archaeopteryx

Prehistoric transitional flying creature

  • birdsEgg-laying flying vertebrates
  • feathersBird's lightweight covering
  • avianOf or concerning birds

cladistics · phylogeny · transitional · flight · descendants · Mesozoic · Triassic · Jurassic · Cretaceous · radiation

predatory

carnivore

Creature eating only animals

teeth · ambush · scavenger · prey · stalking · serrated · talons · pursuit · meat-eater · opportunistic

anatomy

bipedal

Having two feet

sail · horns · arms · skull · femur · tibia · vertebrae · pelvis · scapula · pubis

dinosaurs

Velociraptor

Fast predatory dinosaur genus

Megalosaurus · Utahraptor · Albertosaurus · Gallimimus · bipedal

fossils

paleontology

Study of ancient organisms

sediment · coprolites · petrification · osteology · trackways · articulated · specimen · reconstruction · quarry · museum

Categories
Opposites
dinosaur body plan and ecology

theropodssauropods

Massive long-necked dinosaur group

titanosaurs · hadrosaurs · ankylosaurs · stegosaurs · apatosaurus

Family

theropod

Familiarity
Top 1,000,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Rated G