saurischian (redirected from Saurischia)

saurischian

Any “lizard-hipped” dinosaur species (order Saurischia), with hip bones arranged like those of modern reptiles, the pubis bone pointed forward and down. The order includes all carnivorous and some giant herbivorous dinosaurs. Saurischians evolved from small bipedal dinosaurs called thecodonts; they first appeared in the Late Triassic epoch (227–206 million years ago). The order consists of three suborders: theropods, sauropods, and staurikosaurs (suborder Staurikosauria). Staurikosaurs, known only from the incomplete remains of a few species, seem to have been medium-sized flesh-eaters similar to the theropods. See also ornithischian.