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Origins and Evolution of Ornithischian Dinosaurs

Abstract

Recent discoveries in the red beds of the Upper Trias have shed light on the history of the ornithischian dinosaurs. It is suggested that these dinosaurs had a monophyletic origin among advanced pseudosuchian thecodonts. Development of their rather bird-like pelvis involved backwards rotation of the pubis and subsequent growth of a prepubis. A conservative stock of primitive-looking hypsilophodonts, which persisted from the late Trias through the Cretaceous, lay at the core of ornithischian phylogeny.

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THULBORN, R. Origins and Evolution of Ornithischian Dinosaurs. Nature 234, 75–78 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/234075a0

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