Digging Through Time

Epigaulus hatcheri

Cenozoic Era
Miocene - Tertiary (Neogene) Period
15 Million Years Ago
The Epigaulus hatcheri was an early grass-eating rodent. It lived underground and had two horns on its nose.
   

Diatryma

Cenozoic Era
Tertiary Period (Paleogene)
55 - 48 Million Years Ago
Diatryma are known as the birds of terror. They had large appetites and could eat an animal the size of a horse.
   

Tyrannosaurus rex

Mesozoic Era
Cretaceous Period
71 - 65 Million Years Ago
One of the biggest meat-eaters that has ever lived, the Tyrannosaurus rex grew to be up to 50ft long and 20 ft high. It would probably swallow people whole if it lived today.
   

Deinonychus

Mesozoic Era
Cretaceous Period
110-100 Million Years Ago
Deinonychus means "terrible claw." It was an agile meat-eating dinosaur that hunted in packs. The claw on the second toe of each hind foot was used for tearing up prey.

   

Gobiconodon

Mesozoic Era
Jurassic Period
145 Million - Present
The Gobiconodon was the earliest of meat-eating mammals. It ranged from the size of a mouse to the size of a cat.

   

Plesiosaurs macrocephalus

Mesozoic Era
Triassic Period
215-64 Million Years Ago
Plesiosaurs macrophalus lived in water but crawled ashore to lay eggs just like a turtle does.
   

Pterosaurs

Mesozoic Era
Triassic Period
240 - 65 Million Years Ago
Pterosaurs ranged in size from a small bird to as big as a plane. They had hollow bones and were the first and largest of flying animals with backbones.
   

Orthoptera

Paleozoic Era
Carboniferous (Mississipian) Period
300 Million Years Ago
Orthoptera is an ancestor of today's crickets, katydids, locusts and grasshoppers.
   

Ephemeroptera

Paleozoic Era
300 Million Years Ago
Adult Ephemeroptera do not eat! Their stomach is filled with air to help them float. They are the oldest of the winged insects.
   

Diplocaulus

Paleozoic Era
Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) Period
300 Million Years Ago
The boomerang-shaped head was probably useful for swimming upstream and for making it difficult to be swallowed by predators.
   

Hylonomus

Paleozoic Era
Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) Period
315 Million Years Ago
The Hylonomus was a primitive reptile and was the earliest known fully adapted land vertebrate. It resembled a modern lizard.
   

Blattodea

Paleozoic Era
320 Million Years Ago

 

Also known as cockroaches, Blattodea are sometimes kept as pets. A female can give birth to over 1000 young during her lifetime.

Ammonite

Paleozoic Era
Devonian Period
The ammonite lived in a shell with many chambers - it lived in the last chamber, and it is believed that by moving the air in and out of the other chambers, the ammonite was able to float and swim.
   

Eusthenopteron

Paleozoic Era
Devonian Period
380 Million Years Ago
Eusthenopteron are ancestors of salamanders. These fish eventually grew legs and lived on land.

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