What is an ornithopod?
Q: What is an ornithopod?
A: An ornithopod is an infraorder of bird-hipped dinosaurs.
Q: How did ornithopods evolve?
A: Ornithopods started out as small, bipedal running grazers and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful groups of herbivores in the Cretaceous world.
Q: What was the major evolutionary advantage of ornithopods?
A: The major evolutionary advantage of ornithopods was the progressive development of a chewing apparatus that became the most sophisticated ever developed by a reptile.
Q: What features did the chewing apparatus of ornithopods have?
A: Ornithopods had beaks, multiple teeth rows, cheek pouches, and true chewing.
Q: What was the benefit of efficient chewing for ornithopods?
A: Efficient chewing means faster digestion, as the material is broken into smaller pieces.
Q: What was the apex of ornithopods' evolution?
A: The apex of ornithopods' evolution was in the duck-bills.
Q: What caused the extinction of ornithopods?
A: Ornithopods were wiped out by the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event with all other non-avian dinosaurs.
