570 vanished lives

275Mesozoic

A solid spike-like crest projected behind the skull and probably carried a strong visual signal.

276Mesozoic

A helmet-shaped hollow crest contained looping nasal passages that could shape resonant calls.

277Mesozoic

Its hatchet-shaped hollow crest changed dramatically as the animal matured.

278Mesozoic

A massive nasal boss replaced the long horn seen in many ceratopsians.

279Mesozoic

Long shoulder spikes and dense armor protected one of the largest nodosaurids.

280Mesozoic

Small bony plates embedded in the skin showed that some titanosaurs carried armor.

329Mesozoic

A long neck, dense teeth and paddle-like arms suggest a semiaquatic raptor.

330Mesozoic

Forward-projecting front teeth may have hooked small slippery prey.

331Mesozoic

A small plant eater combined low armor with an unusually deep jaw.

332Mesozoic

Four long tail feathers displayed rather than powering flight.

453Mesozoic

A deep snout with facial ridges marked an early northern tyrannosaurid.

454Mesozoic

A relatively complete skeleton makes this giant titanosaur unusually measurable.

455Mesozoic

Paired neck-vertebra spines curve forward; a described pair measures 58 cm.

456Mesozoic

Scales, simple filaments and branching feather-like structures covered one small herbivore.

457Mesozoic

Incisor, tusk-like and cheek teeth formed an unusual dinosaur dentition.

458Mesozoic

It hunted through polar night, though its supposedly dwarf size remains uncertain.

494Mesozoic

At least seventeen cervical vertebrae produced an unusually long neck for a stegosaur.

495Mesozoic

A long snout, conical teeth and low crest belonged to a spinosaurid that frequently ate fish.

535Mesozoic

Long three-fingered arms and a light body preceded the giant two-fingered tyrannosaurs.

536Mesozoic

This giant carcharodontosaurid shared plains with enormous sauropods and is known from a multi-individual bone bed.

537Mesozoic

Heavy skull armor, neck rings and a tail club belonged to a large Gobi ankylosaur.

538Mesozoic

Short legs, a broad trunk and giant thumb spike made an unusually low heavy iguanodontian.

539Mesozoic

Rows of armor from neck to tail mark an early split among armored dinosaurs.

563Mesozoic

A single crest running from snout to skull roof gave this medium theropod a distinctive profile.