non-avian

alternative nonavian

1. not comparableNot avian.
2. not comparabledefining a paraphyletic groupbiologyExcluding birds; not including members of the class/subclass Aves.

   non-avian reptiles

   5 more examples

   non-avian dinosaurs

   non-avian theropods

   "Non-avian reptiles" comprise an unnatural group used only for chapter convenience here. It is unnatural because excluding birds from Reptilia makes it NON-MONOPHYLETIC. I will discuss non-avian reptiles first (turtles, lizards, snakes, and crocodilians) and leave description of the avian reptiles (birds) until the next major section.

   2012, Lance Grande, The Lost World of Fossil Lake: Snapshots from Deep Time, The University of Chicago Press, page 189

   Feathers are a universal and fundamental characteristic of birds. These lightweight and yet strong keratin structures have evolved over millions of years into many types, differentiated by variations in their organization, size, and the characteristics of their shafts, barbs, and barbules (fig. 2.10). Discoveries of feathered non-avian dinosaurs have demonstrated that the origin of these quintessential avian structures pre-dated the rise of birds, yet the original function of these singular integumentary appendages remains controversial

   2018, Luis M. Chiappe, “Origin and Early Evolution”, in Michael L. Morrison, Amanda D. Rodewald, Gary Voelker, Melanie R. Colón, Jonathan F. Prather, editors, Ornithology: Foundation, Analysis, and Application, John Hopkins University Press, page 17

   As a group, ornithischians tend to be much stouter-toed than ground birds and non-avian theropods. This is readily seen if TTPs and scaled digit widths for all dinosaurs, non-avian and avian, are compared together (figs. 2.24, 3.23, 3.24).

   2018, James O. Farlow, Noah's Ravens: Interpreting the Makers of Tridactyl Dinosaur Footprints, Indiana University Press, page 173

   Synonyms: nonbird

plural non-avians · alternative nonavian

1. Any organism that is not avian.