List of Prehistoric Beasts

Want to quickly refer to some information about a particular beast?  On this page we will keep a record of every weekly beast organized by genetics. Perfect for school reports.  Each article is about one kind of animal and includes where and when it lived, what it ate, how big it was, a photograph of its fossil, and a scientifically up to date painting of what it may have looked like when alive.  Just click a name and enjoy!


Dinosaurs

Basal Saurischians - early relatives of theropods and sauropodomorphs

Theropods- obligatory bipedal relatives of modern birds  (includes birds)
Coelophysoids- early, generally slender bodies, notch in upper jaw
Ceratosaurs- usually short arms, four fingers on each hand
Tetanurans- "stiff tails" theropods more closely related to birds than to earlier groups of dinosaurs.
Megalosauroids- usually large-bodied, longer lower skulls, three fingers on each hand. Includes spinosaurids.
Spinosaurus 
Allosauroids- usually large-bodied, tall light skulls, three fingers on each hand
Coelurosaurs- most (if not all) feathered, most closely related to birds than to other theropods (includes birds)
Compsognathids  
Tyrannosauroids- Small to extremely large-bodied, "D-shaped" cross section of the front teeth
Ornithomimosaurs- "ostrich mimics", long necks, long legs, small heads, beaks
Alvarezsauroids- usually small-bodied, short arms, one finger on each hand. 
Therizinosauroids- long necks small heads, long claws on hands
Oviraptorosaurs- short skulls, powerful beaks
Scansoriopterygids- extremely long fingers, teeth in front of mouth
Dromaeosaurids- blade-like serrated teeth, enlarged retractable claw on second toe
Troodontids- proportionally shorter arms and larger eye sockets, retractable second toe claw but not as large as those of dromaeosaurids.
Aviale- closer to birds than to other dinosaurs (includes birds)
Archaeopteryx  

Sauropodomorphs- long-necked, small-headed plant eaters  
Basal Sauropodomorphs- facultative or obligate bipeds. Five fingers and three claws on each hand.
Ingentia
Macrocollum
Massospondylus
Basal Eusauropods- large-bodied, quadrupedal
Neosauropods- large-bodied, quadrupedal, teeth only in front of mouth, nostril holes on top of skull, one or no claws on front limbs.
Macronarians- chisel-shaped teeth, front and hind limbs about same length, proportionally large nostril holes.
Diplodocoids- peg-shaped teeth, shorter front limbs than back limbs, some have extremely long whip-like tails
Amargasaurus 
Bajadasaurus

Basal Ornithischians- early relatives of other ornithischians
Eocursor

Thyreophorans- beaked, armored, plant eaters
Stegosaurs- Plates and Spikes
Kentrosaurus
Miragaia  
Ankylosaurs- Armor.  Some have tail-clubs.
Parankylosauria- short tails with wide bony plates fused at the end
Nodosaurids- narrow snouts, no tail club
Europelta
Ankylosaurids- wide snouts, tail club
Ankylosaurus
Anodontosaurus
 Euoplocephalus
Jinyunpelta

Basal Neornithischians- basal relatives of marginocephalians and ornithopods
Lesothosaurus

Marginocephalians- Beaked plant eaters with bony ridged skulls.
Pachycephalosaurs- bipedal and thick-skulled
Ceratopsians- horns, frills, and curved beaks
Centrosaurines- Shorter, taller snouts and shorter frills

Thescelosaurines- generally smaller bipedal plant-eaters. Once considered part of the ornithopod group but more recently found to have branched off earlier.

Ornithopods- Beaked, mostly facultative bipedal plant eaters
Iguanodontians- possessed thumb spike on the hand
Hadrosaurs- "duck-billed"
Lambeosaurines- narrower beaks and hollow bony crests
Hadrosaurines- large nostril holes and wider beaks

Non-Dinosaur Dinosauromorphs (some experts think may have been true dinosaurs but I'm putting them here fore now)

Pterosaurs- flying reptiles (and their relatives)
Lagerpetids- early relatives of pterosaurs
Rhamphorhynchoids- long tails and proportionally smaller heads
Caelestiventus
Pterodactyloids- short tails and proportionally large heads


Basal Archosauromorphs- early archosaurs and relatives
Rutiodon
Shringasaurus

Ichthyosaurs- reptilian "fish mimics" and relatives
Eretmorhipis
Ichthyosaurus
Platypterygius
Shonisaurus
Stenopterygius

Plesiosaurs- broad bodies, short tails, four flippers
Liopleurodon
Plesiosaurus

Placodontids- flat teeth
Placodus

Squamates- lizards (includes snakes)
Globidens
Palaeosaniwa
Platecarpus
Tylosaurus

Miscellaneous Diapsids
Helveticosaurus

Synapsids - mammals and relatives
Bulbasaurus
Dimetrodon
Gorgonops
Mammals- hair and milk
Neochoerus 
Paraceratherium
Procoptodon 
Pygmy Tapir

Amphibians (and relatives)
Chondricthyes- cartilaginous fish
Osteichthyes- bony fish

Invertebrates- 98% of all animals that ever existed make up this group, despite their dismal representation on this site.
Aquilonifer
Geisonoceras
Opabinia
Vaderlimulus

 

5 comments:

  1. UnknownNovember 19, 2015 at 1:00 PM

    Very interesting

    ReplyDelete
  2. Half Asleep DinosJuly 14, 2019 at 5:36 AM

    Great Website! Full of great art and awesome info! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rani RajputOctober 6, 2019 at 8:45 AM

    Wow, you got an amazing stuff here. I do have interest is paleontology and am more into the pre-historic era. In the quest of info I have also created a dino database at epalaeontology.org.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownNovember 9, 2020 at 8:29 AM

    so many 😵😵😵

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownNovember 10, 2020 at 8:57 AM

    thank you

    ReplyDelete

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