Cretaceous Animals, Dinosaurs & Extinction

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.

110Mesozoic

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

130Mesozoic

What looked like one trunk was a false stem woven from many small axes and adventitious roots.

131Mesozoic

Elongated aquatic stems bore petal-less reproductive structures important to debates about early flowering plants.

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.

172Mesozoic

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

190Mesozoic

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

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.

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.

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.

233Mesozoic

A toothless beak, clawed wings and—in some individuals—two long ribbon-like tail feathers appeared together.

234Mesozoic

Its wings shrank to small bones while rear-set legs turned it into a superb Mesozoic pursuit diver.

235Mesozoic

Its body and flight resembled a tern, but a row of true teeth remained inside the long jaws.