Hypsilophodonts (named after
Hypsilophodon, itself derived from the
Hypsilophus ("high-crested")
genus of
iguana lizard and literally meaning "
Hypsilophus-
tooth") were small
ornithopod dinosaurs, regarded as fast,
herbivorous bipeds on the order of 1–2 meters long (3.3-6.6 feet). They are known from
Asia,
Australia,
Europe,
New Zealand,
North America, and
South America, from
rocks of
Middle Jurassic to
late Cretaceous age. The group traditionally has included almost all bipedal
bird-hipped dinosaurs other than
iguanodonts, and some early
phylogenetic analyses found it to be a natural group, but more recent studies have found that the group is mostly
paraphyletic and the taxa within represent a series leading up to
Iguanodontia. Some of these studies have moved some traditional hypsilophodonts out of the Ornithopoda, such as
Agilisaurus and
Othnielosaurus (=
Othnielia). Thus, the only certain member at this time is
Hypsilophodon.