Editing Dinosaur classification (section)

{{short description|Various classifications of Dinosauria}}
[[File:Evolution of dinosaurs EN.svg|thumb|right|450px|Classification of dinosaurs]]

'''Dinosaur classification''' began in 1842 when [[Sir Richard Owen]] placed ''[[Iguanodon]]'', ''[[Megalosaurus]]'', and ''[[Hylaeosaurus]]'' in "a distinct tribe or suborder of Saurian Reptiles, for which I would propose the name of [[Dinosaur]]ia."<ref>{{harvnb|Owen|1842}}</ref>  In 1887 and 1888 [[Harry Seeley]] divided dinosaurs into the two orders [[Saurischia]] and [[Ornithischia]], based on their hip structure.<ref>{{harvnb|Seeley|1888}}. While the paper was published in 1888, it was first delivered in 1887.</ref> These divisions have proved remarkably enduring, even through several seismic changes in the [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]] of dinosaurs.

The largest change was prompted by [[entomologist]] [[Willi Hennig]]'s work in the 1950s, which evolved into modern [[cladistics]]. For specimens known only from [[fossil]]s, the rigorous analysis of [[synapomorphy|characters]] to determine evolutionary relationships between different groups of animals (''clades'') proved incredibly useful. As computer-based cladistics matured in the 1990s, [[paleontology|paleontologists]] were among the first [[zoology|zoologists]] to broadly adopt the system.<ref name=bruchu2001>{{cite journal | last1 = Brochu | first1 = C.A. | last2 = Sumrall | first2 = C.D. | year = 2001 | title = Phylogenetic nomenclature and paleontology | journal = Journal of Paleontology | volume = 75 | issue = 4| pages = 754–757 | doi = 10.1666/0022-3360(2001)075<0754:PNAP>2.0.CO;2 | s2cid = 85927950 | url = http://doc.rero.ch/record/14974/files/PAL_E2123.pdf }}</ref> Progressive scrutiny and work upon dinosaurian interrelationships, with the aid of new discoveries that have shed light on previously uncertain relationships between taxa, have begun to yield a stabilizing classification since the mid-2000s. While cladistics is the predominant classificatory system among paleontology professionals, the [[Linnean taxonomy|Linnean system]] is still in use, especially in works intended for popular distribution.