433Paleozoic
Olenellus thompsoni
Olenellus thompsoni
A broad head, long genal spines and many trunk segments marked an early trilobite radiation.
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.
434Mesozoic
Parapuzosia
Parapuzosia seppenradensis
A coiled shell nearly two meters wide belonged to the largest known ammonite.
435Mesozoic
Belemnotheutis
Belemnotheutis antiquus
Rare soft tissues restore the ink sac, fins and ten hooked arms around an internal shell.
436Paleozoic
Hibbertopterus
Hibbertopterus scouleri
A two-meter eurypterid swept the bottom rather than sprinting after prey.
437Paleozoic
Entelognathus
Entelognathus primordialis
Placoderm armor enclosed jaw-margin bones resembling those of later bony fish.
438Paleozoic
Rhizodus
Rhizodus hibberti
Huge conical teeth armed a multi-meter freshwater lobe-finned predator.
439Mesozoic
Saurichthys
Saurichthys curionii
A needle-like snout and slender body converged on modern barracudas.
440Mesozoic
Hybodus
Hybodus reticulatus
Dorsal fin spines and two tooth shapes handled fish and hard-shelled prey.
441Paleozoic
Stethacanthus
Stethacanthus altonensis
Males carried a denticle-covered anvil-shaped structure on the back.
442Mesozoic
Bonnerichthys
Bonnerichthys gladius
A giant bony fish filtered plankton near the ocean surface.
443Paleozoic
Diploceraspis
Diploceraspis burkei
Paired backward horns widened the skull of this small diplocaulid.
444Mesozoic
Cyclotosaurus
Cyclotosaurus robustus
Closed otic notches and a broad flat skull marked a giant aquatic ambush predator.
445Mesozoic
Koskinonodon
Koskinonodon perfectum
A broad half-meter skull carried grooves that sensed water movement.
446Paleozoic
Amphibamus
Amphibamus grandiceps
A small light body combined traits near the ancestry of modern amphibians.
447Mesozoic
Simosuchus
Simosuchus clarki
A short square snout, leaf-shaped teeth and armor belonged to a likely plant-eating crocodyliform.
448Mesozoic
Longisquama
Longisquama insignis
A row of exaggerated dorsal appendages has been called scales, feathers or gliding surfaces.
449Mesozoic
Sharovipteryx
Sharovipteryx mirabilis
Its main flight membrane stretched between extraordinarily long hind legs.
450Mesozoic
Proganochelys
Proganochelys quenstedtii
A complete shell coexisted with neck spikes and an inability to retract the head.
451Cenozoic
Carbonemys
Carbonemys cofrinii
A shell nearly two meters long came from hot wetlands soon after the dinosaur extinction.
452Cenozoic
Purussaurus
Purussaurus brasiliensis
A skull over a meter long belonged to a dominant Miocene caiman.
453Mesozoic
Thanatotheristes
Thanatotheristes degrootorum
A deep snout with facial ridges marked an early northern tyrannosaurid.
454Mesozoic
Dreadnoughtus
Dreadnoughtus schrani
A relatively complete skeleton makes this giant titanosaur unusually measurable.
455Mesozoic
Bajadasaurus
Bajadasaurus pronuspinax
Paired neck spines curved forward and may have carried keratin or soft tissue.
456Mesozoic
Kulindadromeus
Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus
Scales, simple filaments and branching feather-like structures covered one small herbivore.