Neornithischia

Neornithischians
Temporal range: Early JurassicLate Cretaceous, 199.6–66Ma
Skulls of neornithischian dinosaurs
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: Ornithischia
Clade: Genasauria
Clade: Neornithischia
Cooper, 1985
Subgroups
Life restoration of Stormbergia (above) and Othnielosaurus (bottom)

Neornithischia ("new ornithischians") is a clade of the dinosaur order Ornithischia. They are the sister group of the Thyreophora within the clade Genasauria. Neornithischians are united by having a thicker layer of asymmetrical enamel on the inside of their lower teeth. The teeth wore unevenly with chewing and developed sharp ridges that allowed neornithischians to break down tougher plant food than other dinosaurs.

Classification

Neornithischia was first named by Cooper in 1985 and defined as "all genasaurians more closely related to Parasaurolophus walkeri Parks, 1922, than to Ankylosaurus magniventris Brown, 1908 or Stegosaurus stenops Marsh, 1877a".[1] The cladogram below follows a 2011 analysis by paleontologists Richard J. Butler, Jin Liyong, Chen Jun and Pascal Godefroit.[2]

Neornithischia

Stormbergia




Agilisaurus




Hexinlusaurus




Othnielosaurus


Cerapoda

Ornithopoda



Marginocephalia







References

  1. Richard J. Butler, Paul Upchurch and David B. Norman (2008). "The phylogeny of the ornithischian dinosaurs". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 6 (1): 1–40. doi:10.1017/S1477201907002271.
  2. Richard J. Butler, Jin Liyong, Chen Jun, Pascal Godefroit (2011). "The postcranial osteology and phylogenetic position of the small ornithischian dinosaur Changchunsaurus parvus from the Quantou Formation (Cretaceous: Aptian–Cenomanian) of Jilin Province, north-eastern China". Palaeontology 54 (3): 667–683. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01046.x.

External links