the.com/theropod
the dinosaur lineage that grew feathers, took flight, and now mocks you from a power line.
means A theropod is a member of the bipedal, largely carnivorous dinosaur group that includes Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor, and the lineage that gave rise to modern birds.
from From Greek 'thēríon' (wild beast) plus 'poús/podós' (foot) — literally 'beast-foot.' The name was coined in the 19th century by the American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, who grouped these creatures by their hollow bones and three-toed, often clawed feet that left tracks looking unsettlingly like a giant bird's — a clue, it turns out, that was right all along.
- living kin
- Every bird alive is a surviving theropod
- hollow bones
- Air-filled skeletons predate flight by millions of years
- three toes
- Name means beast-foot, walked on three
- t. rex
- Closer in time to humans than to stegosaurus
- feathered
- Many sported plumage long before any wing existed
tyrannosaurus rex — late cretaceous apex predator, 68-66 million years ago, found in north america
velociraptor — early cretaceous pack hunter, 75-71 million years ago, mongolia and china
archaeopteryx — transitional fossil from jurassic, 150 million years ago, bavaria showing feathers and wings