Hypsilophodontidae

Hypsilophodontidae
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
Hypsilophodon skeleton
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia
Clade: Clypeodonta
Family: Hypsilophodontidae
Dollo, 1882
Subgroups
Synonyms
  • Laosauridae Marsh, 1895
  • Hypsilophodontinae Nopcsa, 1928
  • Hypsilophodontia Cooper, 1985

Hypsilophodontidae (or Hypsilophodontia) is a traditionally used family of ornithopod dinosaurs, generally considered invalid today. It historically included many small bodied bipedal neornithischian taxa from around the world, and spanning from the Middle Jurassic until the Late Cretaceous. This inclusive status was supported by some phylogenetic analyses from the 1990s and mid 2000s, although there have also been many finding that the family is an unnatural grouping which should only include the type genus, Hypsilophodon, with the other genera being within clades like Thescelosauridae and Elasmaria. A 2014 analysis by Norman recovered a grouping of Hypsilophodon, Rhabdodontidae and Tenontosaurus, which he referred to as Hypsilophodontia. That clade is formally defined in the PhyloCode as "the smallest clade within Ornithopoda containing Hypsilophodon foxii and Tenontosaurus tilletti provided it does not include Iguanodon bernissartensis". All other analyses from around the same time have instead found these latter taxa to be within Iguanodontia. The family Hypsilophodontidae is formally defined in the PhyloCode by Daniel Madzia and colleagues in 2021 as "the largest clade containing Hypsilophodon foxii, but not Iguanodon bernissartensis and Rhabdodon priscus".