North America

Occithrissops

Occithrissops willsoni was an 8 inch (20 cm) long saltwater fish which lived within the Sundance Sea during the middle Jurassic Period 165 million years ago. During the middle of the Jurassic Period, much of the center of North America… Read More ›

Xenacanthus

Xenacanthus, meaning “strange spine”, was a 3 foot long shark-like freshwater fish which lived in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia from the second half of the Carboniferous Period to the end of the Permian Period, approximately 323-251 million… Read More ›

Ornitholestes

Ornitholestes, “the bird thief”, was a small meat-eating dinosaur which lived in western North America during the late Jurassic Period about 154 million years ago. Since its discovery in the year 1900, Ornitholestes has come to be regarded as the… Read More ›

Caypullisaurus

Caypullisaurus was a 20 foot long ichthyosaur which lived off the coast of Argentina (and possibly elsewhere) during the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous Periods 150-140 million years ago. In 1989, the front half of a skeleton of a medium-sized… Read More ›

Shonisaurus

Shonisaurus was an absolutely gargantuan ichthyosaur which swam off North America’s Pacific coast during the middle of the Triassic Period 227 million years ago. Shonisaurus was one of the largest ichthyosaurs to have existed, measuring 45 feet long. Only a… Read More ›

Kayentatherium

Kayentatherium, “the beast from the Kayenta Formation”, was a cynodont (one of a group of mammal ancestors which are sometimes called “mammal-like reptiles”) which lived in Arizona during the early Jurassic Period approximately 185-180 million years ago. Kanyentatherium was big,… Read More ›

Scutellosaurus

Scutellosaurus, “the little shield lizard”, was a small 4.4 foot long armored dinosaur which lived in Arizona during the early Jurassic Period approximately 185 million years ago. At present, Scutellosaurus is the most common dinosaur known from the Kayenta Formation…. Read More ›