There were numerous kinds of marine reptiles which swam in the oceans during the Mesozoic Era, including the ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs. Less well known are the marine crocodilians, or more accurately, crocodylomorphs. These animals are known as the thalattosuchians,… Read More ›
Jurassic Period
Pliosaurus
We all know that dinosaurs walked the earth in prehistoric times, and many of us are also aware that pterosaurs flew across the skies and fearsome marine reptiles swam in the oceans. Some of these marine reptiles (which weren’t dinosaurs,… Read More ›
Kepodactylus
Kepodactylus was a species of pterosaur which lived in western North America during the late Jurassic Period 150 million years ago. In 1992, a nearly-complete Stegosaurus skeleton was discovered in Garden Park, Colorado within the rocks of the Morrison Formation…. Read More ›
Synechodus
Synechodus was a genus of prehistoric saltwater shark which lived from the early Permian Period until the late Eocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period, 290 to 37 million years ago (Ivanov 2005, pages 127-138). Fossils of this animal reached around… Read More ›
Goniopholis: The Typical Mesozoic Crocodile
Dinosaurs ruled the land during the Mesozoic Era, but crocodiles and their relatives unquestionably ruled the water. Prehistoric crocodiles are usually relegated to the background as supporting actors or extras in our imagined Mesozoic dramas, but the truth is that… Read More ›
Leedsichthys
Leedsichthys was a very large prehistoric saltwater fish which lived during the middle and late Jurassic Period, circa 165-150 million years ago. It was named in 1889 in honor of Alfred N. Leeds who found the first specimen. Leedsichthys belonged… Read More ›
Aegirosaurus
Aegirosaurus leptospondylus was a 6 foot long ichthyosaur which lived in the seas around Europe during the late Jurassic Period and early Cretaceous Period, roughly 147-135 million years ago. Aegirosaurus belonged to a family of ichthyosaurs called the ophthalmosaurids (Bardet… Read More ›
Dimorphodon
Dimorphodon was a species of pterosaur that lived during the early Jurassic Period about 195-190 million years ago. It measured over 3 feet long from its nose to the end of its long tail (which may or may not have… Read More ›
Diplurus
Diplurus was a 3 foot long freshwater coelacanth fish which lived in the northeastern United States during the late Triassic and early Jurassic Periods, approximately 220-190 million years ago. It is divided into three species: D. longicaudatus, D. newarki, and… Read More ›
Anchisaurus
Anchisaurus was a prosauropod dinosaur whose fossils have been found in America’s northeastern states of Massachusetts and Connecticut within rocks dated to the beginning of the Jurassic Period, about 200-190 million years ago. Anchisaurus is one of the more well-known… Read More ›
DINOSAURS AND BARBARIANS 