Avetheropoda

Avetheropods Temporal range: Middle Jurassic–Present, 175.6–0 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N Possible Early Jurassic record
Mounted A. fragilis skeleton cast, San Diego Natural History Museum
Keel-billed toucan perched on a branch
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Clade:	Orionides
Clade:	Avetheropoda Paul, 1988
Subgroups
†Carnosauria Coelurosauria
Synonyms
Neotetanurae Sereno et al., 1998

Avetheropoda, or "bird theropods", is a clade that includes allosauroids and coelurosaurs to the exclusion of other dinosaurs.

Definition

Avetheropoda was named by Gregory S. Paul in 1988,^[1] and was first defined as a clade by Currie and Padian in 1997, to include Allosaurus, modern birds, and other animals descended from their most recent ancestor. In 1999, Paul Sereno named another group, Neotetanurae, for the clade containing Allosauroidea and Coelurosauria, and excluding other tetanurans such as megalosauroids,^[2] but this definition was published slightly later.

References

1. Paul, G. S. (1988). Predatory Dinosaurs of the World. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-61946-2.
2. Sereno, P. C. (1999). "The evolution of dinosaurs". Science 284 (5423): 2137–2147. doi:10.1126/science.284.5423.2137. PMID 10381873.