theropod: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	Theropoda

Photos and Videos

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.

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

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.

Learn about the feathered dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic Epoch

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Topics

feathered dinosaur Giganotosaurus Archaeopteryx Carcharodontosaurus Xiaotingia Oviraptorosauria Ceratosauria Eodromaeus Tetanurae Did Dinosaurs Really Have Feathers?

Key People

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Paul Sereno

American paleontologist

Lion (panthera leo)

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The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is seen in Switzerland on December 2024

Animal Factoids

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters

Animal Group Names

Mushrooms growing in forest. (vegetable; fungus; mushroom; macrofungi; epigeous)

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Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)

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