DINO Classification

Classifying dinosaurs and all other living things can be a complicated matter, so scientists have devised a system to help with the process. Dinosaurs are put into groups based on a very large range of characteristics. 

Scientists put dinosaurs into two major groups:

• The bird-hipped ornithischians and
• The reptile-hipped saurischians. 

Bird-hipped (pubis bone in hips points backwards)

Ornithischians have the same-shaped pubis as birds of today, but today's birds are actually more closely related to the saurischians. 

Example: Styracosaurus

Reptile-hipped (pubis bone in hips points forward)

Saurischians are further divided into two groups: the meat-eating Theropoda and the plant-eating Sauropodomorpha. 

Example: Tyrannosaurus rex

Within these two main divisions, dinosaurs are then separated into order and then families, such as Stegosauria. Like other members of the Stegosauria, Stegosaurus had spines and plates along the back, neck, and tail.