Theropods Temporal range: Late Triassic–present, 231.4–0 Ma |
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Restored skeleton of Eodromaeus murphi | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Order: | Saurischia |
Suborder: |
Theropoda Marsh, 1881 |
Subgroups | |
Theropoda (/θɪərˈɒpədə/ or /ˌθɪərəˈpoʊdə/, from Greek θηρίον "wild beast" and πούς,πόδις "foot") or theropods (/ˈθɪərəˌpɒdz/) are traditonally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs, though a 2017 paper has put them in a proposed clade Ornithoscelida, along with the Ornithischia. Theropods were ancestrally carnivorous, although a number of theropod groups evolved to become herbivores, omnivores, piscivores, and insectivores. Theropods first appeared during the Carnian age of the late Triassic period 231.4 million years ago (Ma) and included the sole large terrestrial carnivores from the Early Jurassic until at least the close of the Cretaceous, about 66 Ma. In the Jurassic, birds evolved from small specialized coelurosaurian theropods, and are today represented by 10,000 living species.