non-avian

adjective

non-avi·​an ˌnän-ˈā-vē-ən 

variants or nonavian

1

: not of or relating to birds : not avian

… assorted nonavian creatures whirring, buzzing and croaking.

—Richard Conniff

nonavian anatomy

2

: of, relating to, or being a non-avian dinosaur

non-avian theropods

Examples of non-avian in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Using genetic comparisons, scientists estimated that the fungus’s lineage emerged approximately 65 million years ago, around one million years after the mass extinction that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs. — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 26 Oct. 2026

About 66 million years ago, the Chicxulub asteroid smashed into Earth, kicking up tsunamis and dropping hot debris that annihilated non-avian dinosaurs and many other species. — Elizabeth Rayne, ArsTechnica, 30 Sep. 2026

When the catastrophe wiped out their massive non-avian relatives, the bird lineages that survived were positioned to take advantage of newly vacant ecological niches. — Kevin Brown, Forbes.com, 24 Sep. 2026

The feathers were partially adapted for diving, yet retained primitive, fuzzy down typical of non-avian dinosaurs. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined at sense 2