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[Oersted]

In the old family tree, there are two major groups of dinosaurs: the bird-hipped ornithischian dinosaurs (such as duck-billed dinosaurs and stegosaurs) and the reptile-hipped saurischians, which include the theropods (such as Tyrannosaurus rex) and the sauropods (the long-necked, long-tailed herbivorous giants).

The new study completely reorganizes this setup. According to new analyses, theropods and ornithischians are more closely related than scientists previously thought, and both fit into a previously unknown group called Ornithoscelida, the researchers said.

The change may seem small, "as only a few branches are being reshuffled," said Steve Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, who was not involved in the study. "But because these are the big branches right near the root of the tree, changing them around is huge. It's saying that much of what we thought about the origins and early history of dinosaurs, going back to the late 1800s, is wrong."

In addition, their models echoed other research suggesting that early dinosaurs were both omnivorous and small, and used their hind legs for walking and two arms for grasping, the researchers said. The analysis also indicates, somewhat unexpectedly, that dinosaurs originated in the Northern Hemisphere, and not in Gondwana, a supercontinent that encompassed Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Peninsula more than 180 million years ago.

The study also bumps back the appearance of the first dinosaurs to 247 million years ago, which is older than the previously accepted date of between 245 million and 240 million years ago, Live Science previously reported.

More here

http://www.livescience.com/58374-updated-dinosaur-family-tree.html

Lock if old

 

[hydrophilic attack]

shouldn't the pictures have feathers

 

[davepoobond]

shouldn't the pictures have feathers

Dinosaur family tree changed twice in one year after 130 years

 

[Kayhan]

On which branch is Godzilla?

 

[OnPoint]

shouldn't the pictures have feathers

 

[jiggle]

Ceratopsians had feathers?

 

[Slayven]

 

[BeforeU]

shouldn't the pictures have feathers

Dont... Just dont

 

[crazy monkey]

shouldn't the pictures have feathers

No feathers.

 

[Fuchsdh]

Well, the dinosaur wings at the American Museum of Natural History *are* overdue for a refresh anyhow...

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Great.

 

[Speevy]

The study also bumps back the appearance of the first dinosaurs to 247 million years ago, which is older than the previously accepted date of between 245 million and 240 million years ago, Live Science previously reported.

How you explain the missing 2 million years? Huh, science? You can't explain that.

 

[AlexFlame116]

shouldn't the pictures have feathers

Uh oh.

 

[Spectone]

On hearing this news my immediate thought is how much the text books now need to changed.

 

[JordanN]

shouldn't the pictures have feathers

Yes.

 

[kswiston]

Ceratopsians had feathers?

Weren't some of those found with tail quills? I wonder if feathers were wide spread in the newly rearranged ornithischian group

 

[Septimus Prime]

I've always wondered why theropods weren't considered "bird-hipped" when modern birds take after them. It made no sense that birds were considered "lizard-hipped."

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

Yes.

Oh my....

 

[SpiralZilla]

On which branch is Godzilla?

Depends on the continuity.

 

[Green Mamba]

But seriously, as someone who's been reading dinosaur literature since before I can remember this is a pretty big change. The most basic thing any "dinosaur 101" thing will teach you is that dinosaurs are split into two groups, saurischia and ornithischia.

 

[To Far Away Times]

shouldn't the pictures have feathers

Why would we be talking about feathers in a dinosaur thread?

 

[Whales]

shouldn't the pictures have feathers

stop

 

[Green Mamba]

Knowing the artist, the theropod in the diagram is covered in feathers but only very fine feathers that wouldn't be obvious in a picture that tiny.

Triceratops *might* have had quills but it's hardly widely accepted, Herrerasaurus is a fairly big "maybe" for feathers, and nobody seriously depicts sauropods with feathers.

 

[MattKeil]

Science - Working as intended.

This is good news, regardless of how many of my dinosaur books it makes obsolete.