Types of Dinosaurs: Discover Dinosaur Families & Groups, With Pictures & Facts

On this page we’re going to look at the different types of dinosaurs. Dinosaurs came in many different shapes and sizes. To make it easier to understand how dinosaurs lived and evolved, scientists place dinosaurs into various groups – just as they do with all other types of animal.

Rather than looking at individual species or genera, such as ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’ or ‘Iguanodon’, we’re going to be looking at these larger groups of dinosaurs. For each group, you’ll find a list of example dinosaurs.

We’ve included some of the main ‘large’ groups of dinosaur, such as Theropods and Ornithischians, and we’ve also listed some famous dinosaur families, such as the fearsome Tyrannosauridae and the herbivorous Hadrosauridae.


Related Pages


Types of Dinosaurs: Introduction

Iguanodon
Iguanodon was an Ornithischian dinosaur. Click on the image to find out more about this type of dinosaur.

(This section is a brief introduction to how dinosaurs are grouped. Scroll down if you just want to see a list of the different types of dinosaurs!)

Dinosaurs, like all living things, can be grouped together depending on their physical characteristics and how closely they’re related to each other. Biologists call this ‘classification’.

Animal groups start off large – for example, ‘reptiles’, then get smaller and smaller until you are left with ‘genera’, which are very closely-related species, and finally the individual species themselves. (Genera is the plural of ‘genus’, a Latin word which means ‘origin’, or ‘type’.)

All living things are organized into groups. One of the biggest types of group is a ‘kingdom’. You may have heard of the ‘animal kingdom’, the group that contains all animals.

Dinosaurs, mammals, amphibians and humans are all in the animal kingdom.


Dinosaur Names

Tyrannosaurus Rex
Tyrannosaurus Rex was a Saurischian dinosaur. Click on the image to find out more about T. Rex.

Most dinosaurs are best-known by their genus, rather than by their species name. For example, most people would talk about the Iguanodon, which is actually a genus, rather than an individual species of Iguanodon.

It’s only paleontologists (and other clever people) who would talk about Iguanodon bernissartensis, which is an individual species of Iguanodon.

In fact, most people have only heard about one species of dinosaur – the Tyrannosaurus Rex, which is a species of Tyrannosaurus. All of the other famous dinosaur names, such as Spinosaurus, Allosaurus and Velociraptor, are genera.

Science doesn’t stand still: as we discover more about dinosaurs, the way in which different types of dinosaurs are classified is likely to change.

On this page we’ll learn about the different types of dinosaurs, and how they are currently grouped.


The Two Main Types Of Dinosaur

Allosaurus Opening Jaws
Allosaurus was a Saurischian dinosaur. Image by I, Steveoc 86 [CC-BY-SA-3.0] Click on the image to find out more about allosaurus.
There are two main types of dinosaur: saurischia and ornithischia.

It was English paleontologist Harry Seeley who first noticed that were two main types of dinosaur: those whose hips were lizard-like in structure, and those whose hips bird-like in structure.

He called the lizard-hipped dinosaurs ‘saurischians’, which comes from the Greek for ‘lizard hip joint’.

Those with bird-like hips he named ‘ornithischians’, which comes from the Greek for ‘bird hip joint’.

Saurischians Vs Ornithischians

All of the carnivorous (meat-eating) dinosaurs were saurischians, as were many herbivorous (plant-eating) dinosaurs.

In general, all ornithischians were herbivores. However, there may have been a few ornithischians that were omnivorous or even carnivorous.

Fossil evidence suggests that ornithischians lived in herds.

  • Saurischians = either carnivores or herbivores
  • Ornithischians = nearly all herbivores (possibly some omnivores / partial carnivores). Probably lived in herds.

Confusingly, the ornithischian, or bird-hipped, dinosaurs were NOT the ancestors of birds. Birds evolved from a group of saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaurs called theropods.


Types Of Dinosaurs: Saurischians

In this section, we’re going to look at some well-known types of saurischian dinosaurs. The two main types of saurischian dinosaurs are theropods and sauropods.


Theropods

Theropod dinosaurs were bipedal meat eaters. (‘Bipedal’ means that they walked on two legs)

Tyrannosaurus, Spinosaurus, Velociraptor: all of these famous predatory dinosaurs were theropods. The word ‘theropod’ comes from the Greek for ‘wild beast foot’.

Theropods first appeared in the late Triassic period, and were present all the way up to the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event which brought the reign of the dinosaurs to an end.

Theropods Become Birds

These ostriches are dinosaurs
These ostriches are actually sauropod dinosaurs!

However, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event wasn’t actually the end for the theropods. One group had already branched off and evolved into birds.

You only have to look out of your window to see that birds – all of which are descended from theropod dinosaurs – are very much alive today!


Types of Theropod Dinosaurs

Coelurosaurs

Coelurosaur means ‘hollow tailed lizard’. Coelurosauria is a large group of dinosaurs that contains theropods that were more like birds than Carnosaurians (a group of dinosaurs which we’ll meet further down the page). The Tyrannosaurids, including T Rex, were coelurosaurs.

Maniraptora

Maniraptora is a branch of bird-like dinosaurs. They first appeared in the Jurassic Period, and are the ancestors of modern-day birds. This group of dinosaurs includes the Dromaeosauridae (raptor) family.

Dromaeosauridae (Raptors)

Velociraptor was a dromaeosaurid
Velociraptor was a dromaeosaurid. Click on the image to find out more about velociraptor.

Dromaeosauridae are sometimes known as ‘raptors’. They were small to medium-sized feathered dinosaurs that appeared in the mid-Jurassic period.

Example Dromaeosaurids

Abelisauridae

Carnotaurus Abelisaurid
Carnotaurus was a abelisaurid. Click on the image to find out more about this dinosaur.

Abelisauridae is a family of theropod dinosaurs that lived in Africa, South America and Asia during the Cretaceous period.

Example Abelisaurids

Tyrannosauridae

Albertosaurus Tyrannosaurid
Albertosaurus was a Tyrannosaurid, and a close relative of T. Rex. Click on the image to find out more about this type of dinosaur.

Named after the Tyrannosaurus (which means ‘tyrant lizard’), Tyrannosauridae is a family of bipedal meat-eaters. Tyrannosaurids are known for their huge skulls, powerful jaws, and short arms.

Perhaps the most famous dinosaur of all, Tyrannosaurus Rex, was a member of the Tyrannosauridae family.

Example Tyrannosaurids

Spinosauridae

Spinosaurus Spinosaurid
Spinosaurus was a spinosaurid. Click on the image to find out more about spinosaurus.

The spinosaurids were another family of large, bipedal, meat-eating dinosaurs. Spinosaurids had long, thin, crocodile-like skulls. Some members of this family, such as Spinosaurus and Baryonyx, were specialized fish-eaters.

Spinosaurus itself had a large sail on its back. This was held up by spine-like bones, from which it got its name (Spinosaurus means ‘spine lizard’). The Spinosauridae family was named after Spinosaurus, but not all members of the family have a similar sail.

Example Spinosaurids

Carnosauria

Carnosauria is a group of theropods that includes the families Allosauridae and Carcharodontosauridae.

Allosauridae

Allosaurus Allosaurid
Allosaurus was an allosaurid. Click on the image to find out more about allosaurus.

Allosauridae is a family of predatory dinosaurs that lived in the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods. Its best-known member is Allosaurus, a top-of-the-food-chain predator of the late Jurassic period.

Example Allosaurids

Carcharodontosauridae

Giganotosaurus Carcharodontosaurid
Giganotosaurus was a Carcharodontosaurid. Click on the image to find out more about this kind of dinosaur.

Carcharodontosauridae is a family of dinosaurs that includes some of the largest land carnivores that ever lived. The name comes from the Greek for ‘shark-toothed lizards’.

Example Carcharodontosaurids


Sauropods

The sauropods were a group of saurischian dinosaurs. Many sauropods grew to incredible sizes, and the group contains the biggest land animals ever to walk the earth.

Giant dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, and Titanosaurus were all sauropods.

A typical sauropod had a large barrel-shaped body, a long neck, a small head, and a long, powerful tail. It stood on four tree-trunk like legs.

Diplodocidae

Diplodocus Diplodocid
Diplodocus was a Diplodocid. Click on the image to find out more about diplodocus.

Diplodocidae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs. Members of this family typically had very long bodies, but were not as tall as other sauropods.

Example Diplodocids

Titanosauria

Titanosaurs were a group of sauropod dinosaurs that appeared in the early Cretaceous and lived right up to the end of the Mesozoic era. The group includes Argentinosaurus, a genus which, although only known from a small selection of bones, was possibly the largest ever land animal.

Example Titanosaurs

  • Saltasaurus
  • Argentinosaurus

Types Of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians

As we’ve seen, the Ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaurs were one of the two main types of dinosaurs (the other being the lizard-hipped Saurischians).

Many Ornithischians had beaks and jaws that were adapted for cutting and chewing plants

Some of the best-known types of Ornithischian dinosaurs are listed below.

Thyreophora (Armored Dinosaurs)

Thyreophora was a branch of ornithischian dinosaurs. Thyreophora means ‘shield bearers’. Another name for this group is ‘armored dinosaurs’.

Thyreophorans were heavily armored with thick skin and rows of plates running along their bodies. Many were further protected by spikes and tail clubs.

Two well-known groups of Thyreophorans were Stegosauria and Ankylosauria.

Stegosauria

Stegosaurus Stegosaurian
Stegosaurus was a Stegosaurian. Click image to find out more about this dinosaur.

Stegosauria was a group of armored dinosaurs that had rows bony of plates running along their backs. Stegosaurus is the best-known Stegosaurian, but several other genera have been discovered.

Example Stegosaurians

Ankylosauria

Ankylosaurian types of dinosaur
Ankylosaurus was an Ankylosaurian. Click on the image to find out more about Ankylosaurus.

Ankylosauria was a group of armored dinosaurs that lived throughout the Mesozoic era. They were large, powerful, four-legged animals. All were heavily armored, and some developed tail clubs which may have been used as defensive weapons against predators.

Ankylosaurus is the best known dinosaur in this group.

Example Ankylosaurians

Ornithopoda

Ornithopods were a branch of Ornithischian dinosaurs that appeared in the mid Jurassic Period and lived to the end of the Cretaceous Period. They had three-toed feet, beaks, and an advanced (for a dinosaur) chewing ability.

Hadrosauridae (Duck-Billed Dinosaurs)

Parasaurolophus Hadrosaurid
Parasaurolophus was a Hadrosaurid. Click image to find out more about this kind of dinosaur.

Hadrosaurids are also known as ‘duck-billed’ dinosaurs due to their wide mouth parts. Hadrosauridae is a family of ornithopods descended from the Iguanodontians. Many Hadrosaurids were able to walk on both two and four feet; they would use all four feet when grazing, but would run using just their hind legs.

Example Hadrosaurids

Pachycephalosauria (Marginocephalia)

Stegoceras Pachycephalosaurid
Stegoceras. Click image to enlarge.

Pachycephalosauria was a type of dinosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous period. Pachycephalosaurians were bipedal and had thick skulls (the name Pachycephalosauria means ‘thick headed lizards’). Many members of this group had domed skulls, and these often had spikes.

Pachycephalosaurians may have fought each other by ramming their heads together – just as deer stags fight to establish dominance today.

An example pachycephalosaurian is Stegoceras, a small bipedal dinosaur with a domed head.

Example Pachycephalosaurids

  • Pachycephalosaurus
  • Stegoceras

Ceratopsia (Marginocephalia)

Triceratops Ceratopsid
Triceratops. Click image to find out more about this type of dinosaur.

Ceratopsia means ‘horned faces’. This group of dinosaurs became common in the Cretaceous period and were found in North America, Europe and Asia. Like all Ornithischians, Ceratopsians were herbivorous. They had beak-like mouth parts. They ranged in size from 1 meter (3.3 ft.) to 9 meter (30 ft.) long, 9 tonne giants.

The best-known Ceratopsian was Triceratops, a large, powerful quadruped that had three distinctive spikes on its face and a bony frill at the back of its head.

Example Ceratopsids


Types Of Dinosaurs: Conclusion

When learning about dinosaurs, it’s important to remember that they were on Earth for tens of millions of years longer than humans have been.

This gave the dinosaurs plenty of time to branch off and evolve into different types of dinosaur. Dinosaur species had been appearing – and becoming extinct – for millions of years before the mass extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period that killed off the last non-avian dinosaurs.

After watching films such as Jurassic Park it’s easy to forget that not all types of dinosaur lived together. Even dinosaurs that lived in the same period may have been separated for millions of years.

For example, 57 million (or more) years passed between the disappearance of baryonyx walkeri and the appearance tyrannosaurus rex, yet both species lived during the Cretaceous Period.

Like all living animals, dinosaurs can be classified into different groups. However, our entire knowledge of dinosaurs stems from fossilized remains that have been in the ground for an almost unimaginable length of time.

This is why, as we unearth more and more fossils, our understanding of dinosaurs – and the relationship between different types of dinosaurs – is continuously changing.


Now: Become A Dinosaur Expert!

We hope that you have enjoyed learning all about the different types of dinosaur. You can find plenty more dinosaur information on the following pages:

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