355Paleozoic
Gerobatrachus
Gerobatrachus hottoni
A frog-like head and salamander-like tail combine traits near the origin of living amphibians.
LIFE ARCHIVE
570 vanished lives
Browse extinct life from traces nearly 1.9 billion years old to historically recorded extinctions.
Explore geological time
Paleozoic
- Cambrian538.8–486.85 million years ago34 records ↗
- Ordovician486.85–443.1 million years ago12 records ↗
- Silurian443.1–419.62 million years ago14 records ↗
- Devonian419.62–358.86 million years ago41 records ↗
- Carboniferous358.86–298.9 million years ago60 records ↗
- Permian298.9–251.902 million years ago51 records ↗
Geography
Explore the atlas by continent, country and state. Follow fossil localities into regional guides, compare animals across time and return to the evidence in each species profile.
Dinosaurs by continent
Countries and states
- Dinosaurs of the United States13 atlas records ↗
- Dinosaurs of Canada7 atlas records ↗
- Dinosaurs of the United Kingdom5 atlas records ↗
- Dinosaurs Found in Texas1 atlas records ↗
- Dinosaurs Found in Montana4 atlas records ↗
- Dinosaurs Found in Argentina11 atlas records ↗
- Dinosaurs Found in China10 atlas records ↗
FIELD GUIDES
Field guides
Giants, strange body plans and lives within human memory. Follow a question into the atlas, then explore the animals behind it.
359Paleozoic
Fedexia
Fedexia striegeli
An elongated nostril region may reflect life in drier upland settings.
360Paleozoic
Microbrachis
Microbrachis pelikani
More than forty trunk vertebrae formed a long body with extremely small limbs.
361Paleozoic
Branchiosaurus
Branchiosaurus salamandroides
Adults retained external gills, extending a juvenile condition through life.
362Paleozoic
Pederpes
Pederpes finneyae
Forward-facing toes show an early tetrapod using a more effective terrestrial gait.
363Paleozoic
Whatcheeria
Whatcheeria deltae
A reinforced skull and fang-like teeth belonged to a powerful river predator.
364Paleozoic
Greererpeton
Greererpeton burkemorani
A long trunk and deep tail propelled it through murky water.
365Paleozoic
Balanerpeton
Balanerpeton woodi
The ear region and sturdy limbs suggest more terrestrial activity than in many contemporaries.
366Paleozoic
Dendrerpeton
Dendrerpeton acadianum
Many individuals were entombed inside hollow tree stumps.
367Paleozoic
Cacops
Cacops aspidephorus
A row of bony back plates reinforced this stocky terrestrial amphibian.
368Paleozoic
Zatrachys
Zatrachys serratus
A serrated rear skull margin may have protected the neck or supported soft tissue.
371Paleozoic
Rhinesuchus
Rhinesuchus whaitsi
This broad-headed aquatic predator was common in southern Late Permian waters.
373Paleozoic
Adelospondylus
Adelospondylus watsoni
The limbs vanished entirely while the skull and spine retained tetrapod construction.
376Paleozoic
Archegosaurus
Archegosaurus decheni
A long snout, lateral-line grooves and weak limbs show permanent aquatic dependence.
390Paleozoic
Erasipteron
Erasipteron larischi
Broad net-veined wings carried an early aerial predator through oxygen-rich forests.
391Paleozoic
Bojophlebia
Bojophlebia prokopi
Huge triangular wings and long tail filaments belonged to a giant mayfly relative.
392Paleozoic
Homoioptera
Homoioptera woodwardi
Thoracic winglets accompanied four large wings in an extinct flight architecture.
393Paleozoic
Archimylacris
Archimylacris eggintoni
A shield-like pronotum and flat wings mark an early cockroach-mantis relative.
394Paleozoic
Gerarus
Gerarus danae
An enlarged prothorax carried a row of prominent spines.
395Paleozoic
Qilianiblatta
Qilianiblatta namurensis
Its wing venation pushes the cockroach-like pattern deep into the Carboniferous.
399Paleozoic
Prototaxites
Prototaxites dawsonii
Meter-high columns towered over landscapes of otherwise low vegetation.
400Paleozoic
Paleopyrenomycites
Paleopyrenomycites devonicus
Tiny flask-shaped fruiting bodies inside plant tissue are among the oldest ascomycete evidence.
413Paleozoic
Margaretia
Margaretia dorus
A perforated tube once treated as an animal is now linked to a branching alga.
414Paleozoic
Yuknessia
Yuknessia simplex
Simple narrow blades radiated from a common attachment.