(suborder Ornithopoda) Medium to large herbivorous (plant-eating) dinosaurs that mostly walked on two hind feet. They are one of the three major groups in the ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaurs. Iguanodon and crested, "duck-billed" Hadrosaur are well known examples of ornithopods. [ More information] Artist's rendering of ornithopod.
Ornithopods are a group of ornithischian dinosaurs who started out as small, cursorial grazers, and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful Cretaceous herbivores in the world, and totally dominated the North American landscape. Their major evolutionary advantage was the progressive development of a chewing apparatus that became the most sophisticated ever developed by a reptile, rivaling that of modern mammals like the domestic cow. They reached their apex in the duck-bills, before they were wiped out by the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event along with all other non-avian dinosaurs.
