570 vanished lives

13Mesozoic

One of the largest known flying animals stood as tall as a giraffe on the ground.

14Mesozoic

A giant marine lizard propelled by a deep tail fin patrolled Late Cretaceous seas.

39Paleozoic

A barrel-bodied herbivore carried bony armor beneath its skin.

56Mesozoic

Pteranodon was a toothless pterosaur above the Late Cretaceous seas of North America. It was a flying reptile, not a bird or a dinosaur.

57Mesozoic

Elasmosaurus platyurus was a long-necked marine reptile from Late Cretaceous Kansas. A 2013 reassessment counted 72 preserved neck vertebrae in its holotype.

58Mesozoic

A streamlined reptile converged on the body plan of dolphins while retaining enormous eyes.

59Mesozoic

Liopleurodon was a Jurassic pliosaur: a marine reptile with a large skull, short neck and four flippers. Its teeth and bones should be distinguished from television size reconstructions.

60Cenozoic

The largest known snake moved through hot tropical swamps after the dinosaurs vanished.

89Mesozoic

A long-necked coastal reptile paddled through shallow Triassic seas.

90Mesozoic

A massive pliosaur skull powered attacks on large marine prey.

91Mesozoic

A giant pterosaur with a robust neck stalked an island populated by dwarf dinosaurs.

95Cenozoic

The largest known terrestrial lizard was a giant relative of monitor lizards.

104Paleozoic

This tiny insect hunter belonged to an early generation of vertebrates freed from laying eggs in water.

110Mesozoic

This long-snouted armored crocodyliform was not a direct ancestor of living crocodiles.

117Recently extinct

A saddle-backed shell and long neck reached high vegetation; the last known individual died in 2012.

139Mesozoic

This roughly fifteen-meter ichthyosaur had a long narrow snout and four flippers.

170Mesozoic

Thirteen extremely elongated vertebrae formed a neck as long as half the body, while the skull snapped at fish and cephalopods.

173Mesozoic

Needle teeth lined long jaws while a diamond-shaped membrane at the stiff tail tip helped control flight above island seas.

175Mesozoic

A short deep skull carried serrated blades, while this marine crocodile's body had transformed into four flippers and a fishlike tail.

220Paleozoic

Nine pairs of broad, flattened ribs record an early stage in the evolution of the turtle shell.

236Mesozoic

An enormous crest rose above a short toothless beak, with soft tissue extending the bony sail still farther.

237Mesozoic

Four long flippers flew through water while a long flexible neck carried the small head toward prey.

238Mesozoic

A solid snout projected beyond the teeth as this giant mosasaur hunted fish, turtles and other reptiles.

239Mesozoic

Front flippers spanned several meters, and a leathery covering stretched over a reduced bony shell.