570 vanished lives

151Mesozoic

Several separate woody columns occupied one stem beneath clusters of long leaves and unusual male and female organs.

152Mesozoic

A stout barrel-shaped trunk held a pinnate crown and many flower-like bisexual reproductive structures among old leaf bases.

153Mesozoic

Finely pinnate fronds carpeted Jurassic understories, each toothed leaflet crossed by repeatedly branching veins.

155Mesozoic

Tall conifers bore nearly spherical cones whose internal scales and ovules were silicified by volcanic landscapes.

170Mesozoic

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

171Mesozoic

A lightly built one-meter animal ran on two legs with both sharp and leaf-shaped teeth in its jaws.

172Mesozoic

Each tiny forearm ended in one stout main claw, perhaps used to tear open insect nests like a modern anteater.

173Mesozoic

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

174Mesozoic

This giant bony fish opened a broad mouth and strained plankton through dense gill rakers, much like a whale shark.

175Mesozoic

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

187Mesozoic

Four broad, densely veined wings carried this stem dragonfly on patrol above Jurassic lakeshores.

188Mesozoic

The male forewing preserves its file finely enough for researchers to reconstruct a pure call near 6.4 kilohertz.

189Mesozoic

Huge eyespots, broad wings and an elongate mouthpart created a butterfly-like insect before butterflies flourished.

190Mesozoic

Scaling from the surviving wing fragment suggests a wing as long as 16 centimeters, among the largest lacewings known.

191Mesozoic

Four lobed wings nearly match ginkgoalean leaves from the same bed, rare evidence of deep-time leaf mimicry.

192Mesozoic

About 17 millimeters long and unable to jump, it carried serrated piercing mouthparts far larger than those of modern fleas.

193Mesozoic

Broad pads at the tips of long legs could grip a smooth wing membrane, suggesting a possible life on pterosaurs.

194Mesozoic

Only about a centimeter long, it already folded spine-lined grasping forelegs beneath its chest.

195Mesozoic

Cycad pollen lies beside it in amber, and its jaws bear small specialized pits for transporting pollen.

221Mesozoic

This lightly built two-meter hunter represents an early branch from the first dinosaur diversification.

222Mesozoic

A long neck, small head and grasping hands mark a stage between bipedal ancestors and giant quadrupedal sauropods.

223Mesozoic

A curved transverse crest across its skull gives this large Antarctic theropod an unmistakable profile.

224Mesozoic

Tall neural spines along the neck and back supported a muscular ridge rather than a paper-thin sail.

225Mesozoic

Two very tall vertebrae ahead of the hips formed a short steep back crest, while the forearm carried unusual knobs.