Leucichthyops vagans was a species of prehistoric salmonid fish which lived in what’s now western North America during the middle of the Cretaceous Period approximately 100 million years ago. The species was named in 1919 by Theodore D. A. Cockerell,… Read More ›
Prehistoric
Erythrinolepis
Erythrinolepis was a prehistoric freshwater fish which lived in western North America during the middle to late Cretaceous Period approximately 100-66 million years ago. The name Erythrinolepis was coined by the paleontologist Theodore D. A. Cockerell in 1919. The name… Read More ›
Kelmayisaurus
Kelmayisaurus was an obscure species of large meat-eating dinosaur which lived in northwestern China (the region sometimes referred to as Uyghurstan) during the early to middle Cretaceous Period 130-120 million years ago. In 1964, fossils belonging to several dinosaur species… Read More ›
Dakosaurus
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 ›
Orthacanthus
Orthacanthus, meaning “straight spine”, was a 10 foot long freshwater shark-like fish which lived during the late Carboniferous Period and early Permian Period roughly 315-275 million years ago. The genus Orthacanthus is divided into twelve different species, two of which… Read More ›
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
NOTE: This article was originally published on August 3, 2023. It was substantially revised on February 3, 2026. Kepodactylus was a pterosaur which lived in western North America during the late Jurassic Period 155-152 million years ago. In 1992, a nearly-complete Stegosaurus skeleton… Read More ›
Euhelopus
Euhelopus was a sauropod dinosaur which lived in eastern China during the early Cretaceous Period approximately 130-112 million years ago. Fossils of this animal were found in the early 20th Century within the rocks of the Meng-Yin Formation within Shandong… Read More ›
Alectrosaurus
Alectrosaurus was a small tyrannosauroidean theropod dinosaur which lived in Mongolia during the middle of the Cretaceous Period around 95 million years ago. It is known from partial remains belonging to several individuals, but their incompleteness makes it difficult to… Read More ›
Gigantoraptor
Gigantoraptor was a massive 25-30 foot long oviraptorosaurian theropod dinosaur which lived in eastern Asia (and possibly in North America) during the middle of the Cretaceous Period. The fossils of this enormous bird-like dinosaur, consisting of a partial skeleton, were… Read More ›