Theropod Diversity and the Refinement of Avian Characteristics

Peter J. Makovicky, Lindsay E. Zanno

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

33 Scopus citations
Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationLiving Dinosaurs
Subtitle of host publicationThe Evolutionary History of Modern Birds
PublisherJohn Wiley and Sons
Pages9-29
Number of pages21
ISBN (Print)9780470656662
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 20 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Archaeopteryx, and discovery of first specimens - evidence of avian evolution in fossil record, focal point for research
  • Birds within the Saurischia, or "lizard-hipped" branch of dinosaur diversity - than the Ornithischia, the "bird-hipped" branch
  • Birds, representing the most speciose - widespread clade of amniotes, unique locomotory and physiological adaptations
  • Cladistic methodology, establishing - testing proposing evolutionary relationships, conceptual framework for deciphering origin and evolutionary history of birds
  • Deep evolutionary history of modern birds
  • Dinosaurian heritage of birds, that birds are archosaurs - closest living relatives to crocodilians
  • Evolutionary trend toward increased brain sizes - continuing within avian lineage, modern birds with larger encephalization quotient (EQ) values than nonavian theropods
  • Huxley (1868), evolutionary relationships - between birds and nonavian theropods, shared traits, as three principal weight-bearing toes in the foot
  • Theropod diversity - and refinement of avian characteristics
  • Theropods, exclusive of basal coelophysoid radiation - the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic, into two major lineages, Ceratosauria and Tetanurae

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