Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Not avian

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

non- +‎ avian

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Examples

  • It unseats the diminutive Cretaceous theropod Albertonykus borealis (described in 2008) as the smallest-known nonavian dinosaur from North America.

    Uppity Authors, Scary Vampires, and Whatnot greygirlbeast 2009

  • Far too often than I care to recall, the term “missing link” has been applied to fossils representing the “transitional” phylogenetic sequence from nonavian theropod dinosaurs to birds, from “primitive” placental mammals to whales, and from fish to tetrapods to name but a few.

    Some Big News Items - The Panda's Thumb 2010

  • Recommended Reading Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences report their new analysis of a primitive feathered dinosaur in "A new feather type in a nonavian theropod and the early evolution of feathers" in The Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences

    An Ancient Quill Rewrites Dinosaur History 2009

  • Since the nonavian dinosaurs went extinct 65 Ma ago, I suspect that 40 Ma is the right number.

    Regulus satrapa - The Panda's Thumb 2009

  • Theropod dinosaurs in the trees: a historical review of arboreal habits amongst nonavian theropods.

    Archive 2006-09-01 Darren Naish 2006

  • Theropod dinosaurs in the trees: a historical review of arboreal habits amongst nonavian theropods.

    Literally, flying lemurs (and not dermopterans) Darren Naish 2006

  • Roach, B and Brinkman, D 2007 A reevaluation of cooperative pack hunting and gregariousness in Deinonychus antirrhopus and other nonavian theropod dinosaurs.

    The Guardian World News 2011

  • Birds and dinosaurs both existed in this era, but the researchers argue that the specimens they found are from dinosaurs because dinosaur fossils were found in adjacent areas and because the discovery of stage IV and V feather-like structures from the time, overlapping with structures found only in nonavian dinosaur fossils, "suggests that the proto-feathers described here are from dinosaurs and not birds."

    Default- News - USATODAY.com 2011

  • They eventually dominated the landscape for a long run through the Cretaceous, only to die out with all nonavian dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

    NYT > Home Page By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD 2011

  • Theropod dinosaurs in the trees: a historical review of arboreal habits amongst nonavian theropods.

    ScienceBlogs Channel : Life Science 2010

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