Theropoda
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| Theropods Fossil range: Triassic - Cretaceous (non-avian) |
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 T. rex foot
Picture taken at Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago |
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Extinct (fossil)
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Theropods ('beast foot') are a group of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs. Although they were primarily carnivorous, a number of theropod families evolved herbivory, during the Cretaceous Period. Theropods first appear during the Carnian age of the Late Triassic about 220 million years ago. Then, they were the sole large terrestrial carnivores from the Early Jurassic until the close of the Cretaceous, about 65 million years ago. Today, they are represented by the 9,300 living species of birds, which evolved in the Late Jurassic from small specialized coelurosaurian dinosaurs.
Among the features linking theropods to birds are the three-toed foot, a furcula (wishbone), air-filled bones and (in some cases) feathers and brooding of the eggs.
