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On Morphological Diversity in Directed Development of Late Carnivorous Dinosaurs (Theropoda Marsh 1881)

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Notes

  1. Perhaps, ornithization is not the best word for designation of this general trend in historical development of late carnivorous dinosaurs. The ease of its pronunciation and unequivocal sense justify to some extent its application. The terms designating a certain direction in the development of some groups, for example, mammalization of respective reptiles, sapientization in hominids, etc. are widely known. Only the avianlike pattern, so prominently manifested in the morphology of carnivorous dinosaurs at the late stage of their evolution, has not for some reason acquired (in different languages) a standard generalizing word, although the phenomenon has long been recognized. For a twist of fate, the name of the large group of carnivorous dinosaurs Theropoda Маrsh 1881 means “therian-legged,” although their foot structure, as presently well known, better corresponds to the definition “avian-legged,” but it is applied to a different group Ornithopoda Marsh 1881 and includes herbivorous dinosaurs, the foot of which is far from avian, and they did not undergo obvious ornithization. Marsh, a well-known American researcher and the author of both names and taxa, relied to a greater extent on reptilian development of dinosaurs than on avian features, which at that time had not yet attracted attention (although possible close relationships between dinosaurs and birds were proposed much earlier), the peak of which falls close to the end of the latter half of the 20th century in the well-known and successful concept of “dinosaurs–birds.”

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Correspondence to R. Barsbold.

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Translated by G. Rautian

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Barsbold, R. On Morphological Diversity in Directed Development of Late Carnivorous Dinosaurs (Theropoda Marsh 1881). Paleontol. J. 52, 1764–1770 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030118140058

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