List of ornithopod type specimens
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This list of specimens is a comprehensive catalogue of all the type specimens and their scientific designations for each of the genera and species that are included in the clade ornithopoda.
Ornithopoda is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs that includes some of the most common and widespread Mesozoic animals including iguanodonts, hadrosaurs, and some animals formerly called "hypsilophodonts". The clade was named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1881[1] and roughly means "bird feet". This name is reflective of the tridactyl feet of most ornithopods, which are superficially similar to many birds. Ornithopods were among the first dinosaurs known to scientists. The first species to be described was Iguanodon, which was described in 1825 by Sir Richard Owen.[2] Today, they collectively comprise the most diverse ornithischian group.[3][4]
The exact origin of ornithopods is uncertain. Some authors consider very primitive ornithischians like Nanosaurus, Hypsilophodon, and Jeholosaurus to be ornithopods,[5] while others do not.[6] Most ornithischians were ancestrally small and bipedal, which makes the taxonomy of these species complex and uncertain.[7][8] However, they are generally agreed to have originated by the middle Jurassic and shortly thereafter, they proliferated to most of the world's continents.[9] Ornithischians in general, but especially ornithopods, saw a large degree of diversification during the early Cretaceous.[10] This culminated in the proliferation of the giant hadrosaurs across the Northern Hemisphere and even into Africa[11] and South America.[12] Ornithopod remains are known from all of the world's continents, including Antarctica.[13]