Here are a few: Three forward-facing toes; Fused collarbone, called a wishbone (yes, that kind of wishbone!) It's absurd to call birds dinosaurs. And as most of us know dinosaurs were reptiles. One such question revolves around the assertion that dinosaurs were reptiles. Birds are related to reptiles because birds are descended from dinosaurs. However, when we calibrate our microscope appropriately, we find that birds are more intimately related to dinosaurs, as they branched off from a dinosaur. This is a fad among paleontologists (and their science journalist hangers-on). However, the reptile family tree is quite broad, and birds are more similar to some reptiles than they are to others. For amateur dinosaur lovers out there, there are many questions that come to mind when contemplating the existence of these giant extinct beasts. Helmeted Hornbill … or … Because birds descended from a group of theropod dinosaurs, they are in fact reptiles themselves. Birds are living descendants of dinosaurs, but they acquired their characteristics by evolution rather than genetic lineage. Dinosaurs can be divided into two groups -- avian and nonavian, or flying and nonflying. Of course in this sentence "reptiles" has the modern monophyletic definition (yellow): "all the descendants of a common ancestor". Dinosaurs are technically classed as reptiles. These theropods share over 100 traits with modern birds. Here are a few: Three forward-facing toes; Fused collarbone, called a wishbone (yes, that kind of wishbone!) Birds are dinosaurs. Extensive research and comparison of fossils to modern-day birds provides evidence that avian dinosaurs evolved into the birds of today, and birds can actually be classified as a kind of reptile. Although the living reptiles birds are most closely related to are crocodilians (archosaurs), when it comes to their relation to dinosaurs, birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs, or birds; and non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. We know that birds have a very similar skeleton to some kinds of dinosaurs, which are reptiles. You could go … Other prehistoric reptiles. You sometimes hear people saying that birds are related to dinosaurs, but that's really not true - birds aren't related to dinosaurs... they are dinosaurs! Ask your average paleontologist who is familiar with the phylogeny of vertebrates and they will probably tell you that yes, birds (avians) are dinosaurs.Using proper terminology, birds are avian dinosaurs; other dinosaurs are non-avian dinosaurs, and (strange as it may sound) birds are technically considered reptiles. The main difference between dinosaurs and reptiles is that dinosaurs are a diverse group of extinct reptiles whereas reptiles include turtles, crocodilians, snakes, amphisbaenians, lizards, tuatara, and their extinct relatives.Furthermore, dinosaurs stand up on their legs, positioning their bodies directly on the legs while reptiles have parallel thigh bones to the ground. Dinosaurs are a varied group of animals from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. ? These theropods share over 100 traits with modern birds. So how could dinosaurs be birds if birds had yet to evolve? The traditional and colloquial definition of reptiles excludes birds (Aves) making it paraphyletic (blue): "all the descendants of a common ancestor MINUS some groups". For the most part, though, ‘reptiles’ is a defunct term. Well, there are people who would say that dinosaurs are reptiles - and that birds are reptiles (it has to be both, or neither). Actually, birds and mammals are technically reptiles, as they descended from the very first reptile. What is the difference?? More specifically from a group of small meat eating dinosaurs. Certainly there is the consideration that dinosaurs could have been the first birds, but based on the fact that not all dinosaurs were feathered or warm blooded, it is more likely that there is simply an overlap between reptiles and birds during the evolution process.