History Main / SocialOrnithopod

** Both Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna have living, breathing dinosaurs cloned by [=InGen=]. They are initially created and bred in the latter before being taken to the former, where Jurassic Park is to be established for visitors to attend. Isla Nublar is the main setting for the [[Literature/JurassicPark first novel]] where the featured ornithopods are ''Maiasaura'', ''Hadrosaurus'', ''Othnielia'' and ''Hypsilophodon''. As expected, there is a sizable number of the four dinosaurs cloned, indicating that they must have been social animals.

** The Liftasaurs (part-''Corythosaurus'') play this straight in that they gather in herds, although they are also stubborn and competitive.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'' is about an ''Iguanodon'' named Aladar who, in a very weird case, lives with a group of lemurs throughout his life. After a comet strike that destroys his island, Aladar is forced to travel alongside a struggling herd of different herbivorous dinosaurs that includes ornithopods like ''Parasaurolophus'' and ''Iguanodon''. The leader is the latter named Kron who, in a stark contrast to HerbivoresAreFriendly, is a [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinist]] who is rather brutish and hardly authoritative about keeping his herd intact.

* ''[[Film/Dinosaur1985 Dinosaur!]]'': One of the major focuses on this Creator/ChristopherReeve narrated documentary is a family of ''Hadrosaurus'' who are trying to take care of their offspring.

** ''Film/JurassicPark'': The ''Parasaurolophus'' makes its only appearance in the film with a herd drinking at a large water hole alongside the ''Brachiosaurus''.

Compare GentleGiantSauropod where sauropods are shown to be docile and friendly. Similarly, compare HerbivoresAreFriendly as ornithopods are usually shown to be non-threatening animals in the long-run. Contrast ToughArmoredDinosaur, HeadButtingPachy, and TemperCeratops which depict herbivorous dinosaur clades as territorial and brutish, alongside RaptorAttack and PteroSoarer which serve to portray raptors and pterosaurs by exaggerating their size and/or aggressive nature. Also contrast PrehistoricMonster where every prehistoric animal, regardless of diet, is depicted as a stereotypical monster rather than an actual animal. AquaticHadrosaurs can be a subtrope, as hadrosaurs are a kind of ornithopods.

What is one of the best-known traits of Ornithopods are their general social nature. Generally, it is rather usual to find remains of ornithopods with a few others around it. This indicated that they were animals that usually preferred to form groups with one another, mainly as protection.

Naturally, as dinosaurs are a mainstay in popular culture, ornithopods, especially ''Hypsilophodon'', ''Iguanodon'' and ''Parasaurolophus'' tend to be featured in works focusing on Prehistory. To highlight their nature as peaceful herbivores, they will mostly be seen as herd animals, providing protection and social attachments towards each other and being rather protective of them. Additionally, it is also common to see ornithopods form a herd composed of different herbivorous dinosaur species, such as sauropods, ceratopsians, stegosaurs, pachycephalosaurs and ankylosaurs.

As evidence to suggest their nature as herd animals have been hinted at by fossil evidence, this can be TruthInTelevision. One of the best evidence to support this is the hadrosaur ''Maiasaura'', whose remains were discovered around a nesting ground with parents perched around said nests. This was what gave it its name, which means ''Good Mother Lizard'' and it may be one of the main inspirations for how ornithopods, usually hadrosaurs tend to be depicted as sociable and gentle creatures [[note]]It's good to remember that the evidence present in several species didn't necessarily applied to all ornithopods, however — in the same way both deers and moose are part of the Cervidae family, even though the former can live in small groups while the latter is more solitary, it is possible that there were more relatively lonely ornithopods too[[/note]]. Depending on how much remains are uncovered, this may also overlap with ArtisticLicensePaleontology.

While not as common as Sauropods, ornithopods are still possible to be DomesticatedDinosaurs considering how they are viewed as peaceful animals. This may or may not overlap with DumbDinos, though this may be unlikely, considering that ornithopods are normally shown to be very wary about predators.

[[folder:Comic Books]]

* In one issue of the ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'', "Escape From Forbidden Valley", Donald gets taken by a hadrosaur who thinks he is her baby. At the end, the Ducks bring back a dinosaur egg that hatches into another hadrosaur, which they keep in Scrooge's zoo.
* The critically panned ''ComicBook/{{Marville}}'' comic run features the protagonist Kal-AOL talking to a hadrosaur named Snorts during his time-travel shenanigans. Kal and Snorts talk about how the latter is able to speak with Snorts stating that hadrosaurs have the most elaborate voice boxes in history, which biologically doesn't make any sense.
* ''ComicBook/XenozoicTales'': The residential hadrosaur in Earth [[AfterTheEnd after some kind of disaster]] is ''Parasaurolophus''. They are referred to in the setting as ''Hornbill'' and are regarded as peaceful animals that are usually found in herds.

* The Geeky Zoologist's [[Fanfic/JurassicWorld2020 reimagining of Jurassic World]] features ''Parasaurolophus'', ''Corythosaurus'', ''Shantungosaurus'', ''Dryosaurus'' and ''Hypsilophodon''. All of them are depicted as gregarious, though the herd sizes tend to vary, with the ''Dryosaurus'' living in herds of around thirty individuals while the ''Shantungosaurus'' live in groups made of a bit more than half a dozen of individuals.

* ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'': ''Iguanodon'' and ''Edmontosaurus'' (identified as ''Anatotitian'') are shown in "Giants of the Skies" and "Death of a Dynasty" respectively, being social dinosaurs that travel in groups grazing for food and looking after one another. The fifth episode, "Spirits of the Ice Forest" is centered on a ''Leaellynasaura'' clan as they struggle to survive in Late Cretaceous Antarctica, and also shows a herd of ''Muttaburrasaurus'' migrating through the area, stalked all the while by an ''Australovenator''.

The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithopoda Ornithopoda]] clade of dinosaurs are some of the most prominent and famous when it comes to the public's eye. The Ornithopods were some of the most successful dinosaurs during their time living out from the Middle Jurassic all the way to the end of the Cretaceous. They were herbivores as can be judged by studies conducted by palaeontologists.

* ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'': ''Iguanodon'' and ''Edmontosaurus'' (identified as ''Anatotitian'') are shown in "Giants of the Skies" and "Death of a Dynasty" respectively, being social dinosaurs that travel in groups grazing for food and looking after one another. The fifth episode, "Spirits of the Ice Forest" is centered on a ''Leaellynasaura'' clan as they struggle to survive in Late Cretaceous Antarctica. ''Spirits of the Ice Forests'' also shows a herd of ''Muttaburrasaurus'' migrating through the area, stalked all the while by an ''Australovenator''.

* ''WesternAnimation/DinosaurTrain'': The ornithopods featured in the series are sociable and friendly animals, just like most of the dinosaurs featured in the series. For example:
** One of the locales Buddy the ''Tyrannosaurus'' and his adopted ''Pteranodon'' family visit with the titular dinosaur train is the ''Corythosaurus Canyon'' which is inhabited and shared by a herd of ''Corythosaurus'' and ''Parasaurolophus''. Two members of their respective species, Cory and Perry are friends with one another and like to play music together.
** The ''Iguanodon Inlet Station'' is home to an ''Iguanodon'' named Iggy. Downplayed in that while he is shown alone, he does strike a conversation with the lead characters during their travels.

Naturally, as [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaurs are a mainstay in popular culture]], ornithopods, especially ''Hypsilophodon'', ''Iguanodon'' and ''Parasaurolophus'' tend to be featured in works focusing on Prehistory. To highlight their nature as peaceful herbivores, they will mostly be seen as herd animals, providing protection and social attachments towards each other and being rather protective of them. Additionally, it is also common to see ornithopods form a herd composed of different herbivorous dinosaur species, such as sauropods, ceratopsians, stegosaurs, pachycephalosaurs and ankylosaurs.

* The critically panned ''ComicBook/{{Marville}}'' comic run features the protagonist Kal-AOL talking to a hadrosaur named Snorts during his time-travel shenanigans. Kal and Snorts talk about how the latter is able to speak with Snorts stating that hadrosaurs have the most elaborate voice boxes in history, [[CriticalResearchFailure which biologically doesn't make any sense]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' episode "Dinosaur Ducks", the kids encounter a friendly baby ''Hadrosaurus'' that they have to reunite with its mother. The ''Hadrosaurus'', however, look more like sauropods with duckbills and crests, although the baby has a short neck. In an unusual subversion of the stereotype, the mother hadrosaur fiercely fights a ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex'' [[MamaBear threatening her young]] (and, by extension, the ducks).

As evidence to suggest their nature as herd animals have been hinted at by fossil evidence, this can be TruthInTelevision. One of the best evidence to support this is the hadrosaur ''Maiasaura'', whose remains were discovered around a nesting ground with parents perched around said nests. This was what gave it its name, which means ''Good Mother Lizard'' and it may be one of the main inspirations for how ornithopods, usually hadrosaurs tend to be depicted as sociable and gentle creatures [[note]]It's good to remember that the evidence present in several species didn't necessarily applied to all ornithopods, however — in the same way both deers and moose are part of the Cervidae family, even though the former can live in small groups while the latter is more solitary, it is possible that there were more relatively lonely ornithopods too[[/note]]. Depending on how much remains are uncovered, this may also overlap with ArtisticLicensePaleontology. This can also fall under StockDinosaurs depending on the species shown, especially the aforementioned ''Iguanodon'' and ''Parasaurolophus''.

As evidence to suggest their nature as herd animals have been hinted at by fossil evidence, this can be TruthInTelevision. One of the best evidence to support this is the hadrosaur ''Maiasaura'', whose remains were discovered around a nesting ground with parents perched around said nests. This was what gave it its name, which means ''Good Mother Lizard'' and it may be one of the main inspirations for how ornithopods, usually hadrosaurs tend to be depicted as sociable and gentle creatures [[note]]It's good to remember that the evidence present in several species didn't necessarily applied to all ornithopods, however — in the same way both deers and moose are part of the Cervidae family, even though the former can live in small groups while the latter is more solitary, it is possible that there were more relatively lonely ornithopods too[[/note]]. Depending on how much remains are uncovered, this may also overlap with ArtisticLicensePaleontology. This can also fall under StockDinosaurs depending on the species shown, especially the aforementioned ''Iguanodon'' and ''Parasaurolophus'', or SeldomSeenSpecies if a prehistoric setting happens to be set as a specific time frame and location.

* ''Dinosaur!'': One of the major focuses on this Creator/ChristopherReeve narrated documentary is a family of ''Anatosaurus'' who are trying to take care of their offspring.

As evidence to suggest their nature as herd animals have been hinted at by fossil evidence, this can be TruthInTelevision. One of the best evidence to support this is the hadrosaur ''Maiasaura'', whose remains were discovered around a nesting ground with parents perched around said nests. This was what gave it its name, which means ''Good Mother Lizard'' and it may be one of the main inspirations for how ornithopods, usually hadrosaurs tend to be depicted as sociable and gentle creatures [[note]]It's good to remember that the evidence present in several species didn't necessarily applied to all ornithopods, however — in the same way both deers and moose are part of the Cervidae family and the former lives in group while the latter is more solitary, it is possible that there were more relatively lonely ornithopods too[[/note]]. Depending on how much remains are uncovered, this may also overlap with ArtisticLicensePaleontology. This can also fall under StockDinosaurs depending on the species shown, especially the aforementioned ''Iguanodon'' and ''Parasaurolophus'', or SeldomSeenSpecies if a prehistoric setting happens to be set as a specific time frame and location.

As evidence to suggest their nature as herd animals have been hinted at by fossil evidence, this can be TruthInTelevision. One of the best evidence to support this is the hadrosaur ''Maiasaura'', whose remains were discovered around a nesting ground with parents perched around said nests. This was what gave it its name, which means ''Good Mother Lizard'' and it may be one of the main inspirations for how ornithopods, usually hadrosaurs tend to be depicted as sociable and gentle creatures. Depending on how much remains are uncovered, this may also overlap with ArtisticLicensePaleontology. This can also fall under StockDinosaurs depending on the species shown, especially the aforementioned ''Iguanodon'' and ''Parasaurolophus'', or SeldomSeenSpecies if a prehistoric setting happens to be set as a specific time frame and location.

* ''Film/JurassicWorldDominion.'': The ''Parasaurolophus'' get rounded up by Owen and company on horseback and are later shown running with wild horses.