Known as “fearfully-great lizards” or “terrible lizards”, these terrestrial or amphibious reptiles were often of great size from the Triassic and Cretaceous periods.

Although most of them were herbivorous, some of the later species in the Cretaceous period were carnivorous and probably extremely fierce.

Dinosauria are the most recent common ancestor of Triceratops and modern birds, and all its descendants. Dinosaurs were wholly terrestrial, with no known aquatic species.

Only one major clade of dinosaurs, Aves (“birds”), survives today. Coined by Sir Richard Owen in 1841.