theropod

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Illustration of the dinosaur Allosaurus, a large bipedal predator from the late Jurassic period, shown with powerful jaws and sharp teeth. A human figure and dog are included for scale, highlighting the dinosaur's impressive size. Measurement bars indicate 1 meter and 3 feet for reference.

Person in inflatable T. rex costume lifting small dumbbells in a gym beside a weight rack; text overlay reads “design flaw?” with an arrow pointing to the T. rex's arms.

Illustration of the dinosaur Coelophysis, showing a slender, long-tailed predator with birdlike hollow limbs, standing beside a modern bird for size comparison. Measurement bars indicate Coelophysis could reach about 9 feet in length. Text notes it lived in large herds during the Late Triassic in North America.

Illustration of Ornithomimus, a late Cretaceous dinosaur with a long neck, slender legs, small head, and toothless beak, shown beside a wolf for scale. The dinosaur is described as a swift omnivore.

Figure 2: Trackways of a sauropod and a carnivorous theropod at Glen Rose, Texas.Courtesy, Library Services Department, American Museum of Natural History, New York City; photograph, R.T. Bird (Neg. N

selected taxonomy

Learn about the feathered dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic Epoch

theropod: References & Edit History

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Article History

Type	Description	Contributor	Date
	Invalidated site: University of Maryland - Department of Geology - Theropod Paleobiology, more than just bird origins.	Grace Young	Oct 27, 2026
	Media added.	Meg Matthias	Oct 24, 2025
	Add new Web site: Cell Press - Current Biology - Macroevolutionary trends in theropod dinosaur feeding mechanics.	Emily Rodriguez	Jul 07, 2025
	Add new Web site: Cell Press - Current Biology - Macroevolutionary trends in theropod dinosaur feeding mechanics.	Aakanksha Gaur	Mar 01, 2025
	Add new Web site: PNAS - Herbivorous ecomorphology and specialization patterns in theropod dinosaur evolution.	Gloria Lotha	Oct 08, 2024
	Add new Web site: Academia - Fossils explained 27: Theropod dinosaurs.	Emily Rodriguez	Aug 29, 2024
	Add new Web site: CORE - A new theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa and its implications for the early evolution of theropods.	Gloria Lotha	Jul 02, 2024
	Add new Web site: The Royal Society Publishing - Proceedings B - Osteohistological analyses reveal diverse strategies of theropod dinosaur body-size evolution.	Gloria Lotha	Apr 23, 2024
	Add new Web site: University of Maryland - Department of Geology - Theropod Paleobiology, more than just bird origins.	Gloria Lotha	Mar 01, 2024
	Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - The evolution of the manus of early theropod dinosaurs is characterized by high inter‐ and intraspecific variation.	Aakanksha Gaur	May 27, 2023
	Add new Web site: A-Z Animals - Theropod.	Gloria Lotha	Mar 02, 2023
	Text noting that Eodromaeus is the oldest known theropod added.	John P. Rafferty	Feb 07, 2011
	Added new Web site: University of California Berkeley Museum of Paleontology - Theropod Dinosaurs.	Gloria Lotha	Jun 27, 2006
	Article revised.	The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica	Sep 27, 2002
	Article added to new online database.	The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica	Jul 20, 1998