Dinosaurs

05Mesozoic

A deep skull, bone-crushing bite and keen senses made it one of the last giant theropods.

06Mesozoic

Three horns and a broad frill formed a formidable display and defense system.

07Mesozoic

Tall back plates and a four-spiked tail made this low-browsing herbivore unmistakable.

08Mesozoic

This turkey-sized feathered predator carried a raised sickle claw on each foot.

09Mesozoic

A sail-backed predator with dense bones and a paddle-like tail, adapted to life around water.

10Mesozoic

Body armor and a heavy tail club turned a plant-eater into a walking fortress.

11Mesozoic

Its long hollow crest may have carried low calls across forests and floodplains.

40Mesozoic

A lightweight skull and serrated teeth equipped this large predator for repeated slashing bites.

41Mesozoic

Long forelimbs lifted its shoulders and neck toward the Jurassic canopy.

42Mesozoic

A whip-like tail balanced an extremely long neck on this lightly built giant.

43Mesozoic

Brow horns, a deep skull and extremely reduced arms marked this fast abelisaurid.

44Mesozoic

A giant narrow-skulled theropod shared its world with immense sauropods.

45Mesozoic

A stiff tail, grasping hands and enlarged foot claw made an agile feathered hunter.

46Mesozoic

The supposed egg thief was found above a nest that probably contained its own young.

47Mesozoic

Meter-long hand claws belonged to a tall, feathered, pot-bellied herbivore.

48Mesozoic

A thick dome of bone crowned the skull of this two-legged herbivore.

49Mesozoic

A conical thumb spike and batteries of chewing teeth equipped this adaptable herbivore.

50Mesozoic

This sheep-sized horned dinosaur carried a deep beak and broad neck frill.

51Mesozoic

A slender, hollow-boned hunter was among the early successful dinosaurs.

52Mesozoic

This early long-necked herbivore could rear upright but mainly walked on two legs.

53Mesozoic

Paired head crests advertised this agile predator; there is no evidence for venom or a neck frill.

54Mesozoic

Long flight feathers on all four limbs formed a remarkable aerial surface.

55Mesozoic

Membranous wings supported by long fingers and a rod-like styliform element projecting from the wrist differed from the feathered wings of birds.

85Mesozoic

One of the earliest large dinosaurs was a lightly built two-legged predator.

86Mesozoic

A crocodile-like snout and huge thumb claw equipped this theropod to catch fish and other prey.

87Mesozoic

A deep parrot-like beak helped this early horned dinosaur process plants; this record distinguishes P. mongoliensis from other specimens of the genus.

88Mesozoic

A broad duck bill and dense dental batteries processed huge amounts of vegetation.

106Mesozoic

A handful of colossal vertebrae and limb bones indicate one of the largest land animals known.

107Mesozoic

This huge, robust dromaeosaur used strength and a curved second-toe claw to control prey.

108Mesozoic

Huge arms, a broad bill, a tall back and wide feet formed one of the strangest dinosaur silhouettes.

109Mesozoic

Two rows of elongated neck spines made its profile unique, though their soft-tissue covering remains debated.

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.

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.

226Mesozoic

A short deep skull carried a rounded horn, while tooth marks on its own species provide rare scavenging evidence.

227Mesozoic

A huge nasal horn and long spikes radiating from the frill made one of the most dramatic ceratopsian heads.

228Mesozoic

Fifteen horn-like ornaments across the nose, brows and broad frill formed a folded crown around the skull.

229Mesozoic

Plates covered the front body while long paired spikes armed the hips and tail, concentrating defense behind it.

230Mesozoic

Nineteen elongated neck vertebrae placed nearly half the body's length in the neck, lightened internally by air spaces.

231Mesozoic

Simple filamentous feathers and tail color bands made it the first dinosaur restored with evidence-based coloration.

232Mesozoic

Orderly vaned feathers covered its arms and short tail, but symmetric feathers and body proportions prevented powered flight.

271Mesozoic

A nasal horn, brow ridges and small midline osteoderms made this predator unmistakable.

272Mesozoic

A huge skull and unusually powerful three-fingered arms marked one of the largest megalosaurids.

273Mesozoic

The first formally named non-avian dinosaur later became a wastebasket for unrelated theropod bones.

274Mesozoic

Tall neural spines supported a sail, ridge or fatty hump whose soft-tissue shape remains uncertain.

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 spines curved forward and may have carried keratin or soft tissue.

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.

564Mesozoic

Long hind limbs and a lightly built skeleton indicate a large, fast-moving theropod.

565Mesozoic

A relatively short neck, strong limbs and primitive vertebrae belonged to a large non-neosauropod herbivore.