Definition of saurischian
: any of an order (Saurischia) of herbivorous or carnivorous dinosaurs that have the pubis of the pelvis typically pointed downward and forward and that include the sauropods and theropods — compare ornithischian
saurischian
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Recent Examples of saurischian from the Web
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Still, succeeding generations of paleontologists came to the consensus that Dinosauria is made up of the saurischian and ornithischian branches.
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In the old system, ornithischians were considered plant eaters while all the meat eating dinosaurs were saurischians, meaning that the trait of eating meat could have evolved after the two main branches of dinosaurs split.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'saurischian.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of saurischian
New Latin Saurischia, ultimately from Greek sauros lizard + New Latin ischium ischium
Learn More about saurischian
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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about saurischian
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