Jurassic

Geological interval

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A map showing the distribution of paraves in Late Jurassic with the respective paleogeographic setting.

A map showing the distribution of paraves in Late Jurassic with the respective paleogeographic setting.

Jurassic Late Jurassic Paraves
Figure 1. Evolution of macroecological traits in Dinosauria. Large scale event in dinosaur evolution (a); the origin of dinosaurs (star), hyperthermals (volcano), the earliest fossil Avialae (bird), the earliest fossil angiosperm (flower), the Cretaceous/Palaeogene mass extinction (asteroid). Phylogeny of dinosaurs (b) redrawn from Sereno and adapted to the current consensus and upon which an ancestral state reconstruction of temperature niche (mean annual temperature) after Chiarenza et al. is plotted; Mesozoic palaeogeographies (c) for Triassic (T), Jurassic (J) and Cretaceous (K). Silhouette colours symbolize body mass for each of the taxa represented; information on dietary habits are plotted after Barrett and Zanno & Makovicky; numbers represent clades discussed through this study: 1, Ornithischia; 2, Thyreophora; 3, Ornithopoda; 4, Hadrosauroidea; 5, Marginocephalia; 6, Ceratopsia; 7, Saurischia; 8, Sauropodomorpha; 9, Sauropoda; 10, Theropoda; 11, Ceratosauria; 12, Tetanurae; 13, Coelurosauria; 14, Maniraptoriformes; 15, Maniraptora; 16, Deinonychosauria; 17, Avialae; 18, Ornithothoraces. Palaeogeographies modified from original plots via R package ‘mapast’ using plate models by Scotese.

Figure 1. Evolution of macroecological traits in Dinosauria. Large scale event in dinosaur evolution (a); the origin of dinosaurs (star), hyperthermals (volcano), the earliest fossil Avialae (bird), the earliest fossil angiosperm (flower), the Cretaceous/Palaeogene mass extinction (asteroid). Phylogeny of dinosaurs (b) redrawn from Sereno and adapted to the current consensus and upon which an ancestral state reconstruction of temperature niche (mean annual temperature) after Chiarenza et al. is plotted; Mesozoic palaeogeographies (c) for Triassic (T), Jurassic (J) and Cretaceous (K). Silhouette colours symbolize body mass for each of the taxa represented; information on dietary habits are plotted after Barrett and Zanno & Makovicky; numbers represent clades discussed through this study: 1, Ornithischia; 2, Thyreophora; 3, Ornithopoda; 4, Hadrosauroidea; 5, Marginocephalia; 6, Ceratopsia; 7, Saurischia; 8, Sauropodomorpha; 9, Sauropoda; 10, Theropoda; 11, Ceratosauria; 12, Tetanurae; 13, Coelurosauria; 14, Maniraptoriformes; 15, Maniraptora; 16, Deinonychosauria; 17, Avialae; 18, Ornithothoraces. Palaeogeographies modified from original plots via R package ‘mapast’ using plate models by Scotese.

scale Cretaceous Jurassic Mesozoic +23
Diagram illustrating the "Temporal paradox" in paleontology. First given it's nickname by Alan Feduccia, the paradox is made up by the fact that almost all feathered dinosaurs are dated to have lived millions of years after Archaeopteryx, the oldest bird (late Jurassic, believed to have existed about 150 million years ago). Only a few of the feathered dinosaurs/birdlike dinosaurs are given an older date than Archaeopteryx.

Diagram illustrating the "Temporal paradox" in paleontology. First given it's nickname by Alan Feduccia, the paradox is made up by the fact that almost all feathered dinosaurs are dated to have lived millions of years after Archaeopteryx, the oldest bird (late Jurassic, believed to have existed about 150 million years ago). Only a few of the feathered dinosaurs/birdlike dinosaurs are given an older date than Archaeopteryx.

Jurassic Late Jurassic Archaeopteryx Coelurosauria +2
Restoration of Early Jurassic environment preserved at the SGDS, with the theropod Dilophosaurus wetherilli in bird-like resting pose, demonstrating the manufacture of SGDS.18.T1 resting trace.

Restoration of Early Jurassic environment preserved at the SGDS, with the theropod Dilophosaurus wetherilli in bird-like resting pose, demonstrating the manufacture of SGDS.18.T1 resting trace.

Early Jurassic Jurassic Dilophosaurus Neotheropoda +1
Geographic and geologic map showing the location and involved strata of the studied fossil sites in the Xinhe Formation. (A, B) location of the fossiliferous localities in the Gansu Province. (C) Geological map of the involved strata of the studied fossil site (from State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, GS (2016)2884). White star=Jinchuanloong niedu. Black star=plesiosaur fossils. (D) Stratigraphic chart of the Jurassic at the localities.

Geographic and geologic map showing the location and involved strata of the studied fossil sites in the Xinhe Formation. (A, B) location of the fossiliferous localities in the Gansu Province. (C) Geological map of the involved strata of the studied fossil site (from State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, GS (2016)2884). White star=Jinchuanloong niedu. Black star=plesiosaur fossils. (D) Stratigraphic chart of the Jurassic at the localities.

Jurassic fossil Jinchuanloong Plesiosauria +1
Life restoration of Tanycolagreus topwilsoni.
Based on Figure 2.16 of "New small theropod from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Wyoming" by Kenneth Carpenter, Clifford Miles, and Karen Cloward (The Carnivorous Dinosaurs pp. 23-48, Indiana University Press).

Life restoration of Tanycolagreus topwilsoni. Based on Figure 2.16 of "New small theropod from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Wyoming" by Kenneth Carpenter, Clifford Miles, and Karen Cloward (The Carnivorous Dinosaurs pp. 23-48, Indiana University Press).

Morrison Jurassic Coeluridae Dinosauria +2
Pencil drawing of Coelurus, a coelurosaurian dinosaur that lived from the Late Jurassic period (North America).

Pencil drawing of Coelurus, a coelurosaurian dinosaur that lived from the Late Jurassic period (North America).

drawing Jurassic Late Jurassic Coeluria +3
Coelurus fragilis, a coelurosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America, pencil drawing, digital coloring

Coelurus fragilis, a coelurosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America, pencil drawing, digital coloring

drawing Jurassic Late Jurassic Coeluria +3
Brontosaurus excelsus in the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.
Brontosaurus excelsus
Inv no. YPM 1980 (holotype specimen of the species)
Discoverer William H. Reed 1879
Locality Como Bluff, Wyoming
Age Morrison Formatian, Jurassic period, 150 million years ago
Taxa Phytodinosauria

Brontosaurus excelsus in the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Brontosaurus excelsus Inv no. YPM 1980 (holotype specimen of the species) Discoverer William H. Reed 1879 Locality Como Bluff, Wyoming Age Morrison Formatian, Jurassic period, 150 million years ago

museum Morrison Jurassic holotype +3
Identifier: waterreptilesofp1914will
Title: Water reptiles of the past and present
Year: 1914 (1910s)
Authors:  Williston, Samuel Wendell, 1851-1918
Subjects:  Aquatic reptiles
Publisher:  Chicago, Ill., The University of Chicago Press
Contributing Library:  Boston Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor:  Boston Public Library

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
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Text Appearing Before Image:
served and very complete skeletons ofdifferent species of ichthyosaurs from the Jurassic deposits ofWiirtemberg, in which remains of these animals occur in great 112 WATER REPTILES OF THE PAST AND PRESENT profusion. His researches, and those of several authors since then,supplementing and confirming or disproving those of the manyobservers made during the preceding seventy years, have finallydetermined almost perfectly the complete structure of the moretypical ichthyosaurs, enabling us to infer not a little as to theirhabits and distribution in the old Jurassic oceans. Within thepast few years the discoveries of Professor J. C. Merriam of Cali-fornia have likewise added greatly to our knowledge of the earlierichthyosaurs. It may now truthfully be said that of no group ofextinct reptiles do we have a more complete and satisfactory knowl-edge than of the ichthyosaurs. Nevertheless we have yet very much more to learn about theorder Ichthyosauria as a whole—whence they came and how they
Text Appearing After Image:
Fig. 52.—Ichthyosaurus quadricissus.museum, from Dr. Dreverman. Photograph of specimen in Senckenberg originated; what their nearest kin were among other reptiles; andespecially, more about the connecting links between them andterrestrial reptiles. They have, as an order, so isolated a position,are so widely separated from all other reptiles in structure, that theyhave long been a puzzle to paleontologists. Like the whales andother cetaceans among mammals, we know the ichthyosaurs wellin the plenitude of their power and the fulness of their development,but have yet only an imperfect knowledge of their earlier history,and none whatever of their earliest. However, as will be seenfarther on, the recent discoveries by Merriam have shed much lighton some of the stages of their evolution. So nearly perfectly wereall the later ichthyosaurs adapted to their life in the water that itwas believed by nearly all paleontologists until about a score of years ICHTHYOSAURIA 3 ago that they had desc

Note About Images

Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
Taxa Stenopterygiidae

Identifier: waterreptilesofp1914will Title: Water reptiles of the past and present Year: 1914 (1910s) Authors: Williston, Samuel Wendell, 1851-1918 Subjects: Aquatic reptiles Publisher: Chicago, Ill., The University of Chicago Press Contributing Library: Boston Public Library Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Public Library View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: served and very complete skeletons ofdifferent species of ichthyosaurs from the Jurassic deposits ofWiirtemberg, in which remains of these animals occur in great 112 WATER REPTILES OF THE PAST AND PRESENT profusion. His researches, and those of several authors since then,supplementing and confirming or disproving those of the manyobservers made during the preceding seventy years, have finallydetermined almost perfectly the complete structure of the moretypical ichthyosaurs, enabling us to infer not a little as to theirhabits and distribution in the old Jurassic oceans. Within thepast few years the discoveries of Professor J. C. Merriam of Cali-fornia have likewise added greatly to our knowledge of the earlierichthyosaurs. It may now truthfully be said that of no group ofextinct reptiles do we have a more complete and satisfactory knowl-edge than of the ichthyosaurs. Nevertheless we have yet very much more to learn about theorder Ichthyosauria as a whole—whence they came and how they Text Appearing After Image: Fig. 52.—Ichthyosaurus quadricissus.museum, from Dr. Dreverman. Photograph of specimen in Senckenberg originated; what their nearest kin were among other reptiles; andespecially, more about the connecting links between them andterrestrial reptiles. They have, as an order, so isolated a position,are so widely separated from all other reptiles in structure, that theyhave long been a puzzle to paleontologists. Like the whales andother cetaceans among mammals, we know the ichthyosaurs wellin the plenitude of their power and the fulness of their development,but have yet only an imperfect knowledge of their earlier history,and none whatever of their earliest. However, as will be seenfarther on, the recent discoveries by Merriam have shed much lighton some of the stages of their evolution. So nearly perfectly wereall the later ichthyosaurs adapted to their life in the water that itwas believed by nearly all paleontologists until about a score of years ICHTHYOSAURIA 3 ago that they had desc Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.

Jurassic Ichthyosauria Stenopterygiidae skeleton
Adeopapposaurus mognai, Early Jurassic of Argentina. Digital.
Taxa Massospondylidae

Adeopapposaurus mognai, Early Jurassic of Argentina. Digital.

Argentina Early Jurassic Jurassic Adeopapposaurus +2
Galeamopus hayi (formerly Diplodocus) type specimen (HMNS 175, formerly CM 662)
Jurassic Period
140,000,000 years old
The animal was 78ft long, 12 ft high at the hips, and probably weighed 10-15 tons.

Wikipedia Loves Art at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
This photo of item # [1] at the Houston Museum of Natural Science was contributed under the team name "The_Wookies" as part of the Wikipedia Loves Art project in February 2009. Houston Museum of Natural Science

The original photograph on Flickr was taken by andytang20—please add a comment to the original Flickr page whenever a use has been made on Wikipedia or another project.
Project galleries on Flickr: this institution,  this team
Taxa Diplodocinae

Galeamopus hayi (formerly Diplodocus) type specimen (HMNS 175, formerly CM 662) Jurassic Period 140,000,000 years old The animal was 78ft long, 12 ft high at the hips, and probably weighed 10-15 tons. Wikipedia Loves Art at the Houston Museum of Natural Science This photo of item # [1] at the Houston Museum of Natural Science was contributed under the team name "The_Wookies" as part of the Wikipedia Loves Art project in February 2009. Houston Museum of Natural Science The original photograph on Flickr was taken by andytang20—please add a comment to the original Flickr page whenever a use has been made on Wikipedia or another project. Project galleries on Flickr: this institution, this team

museum Jurassic specimen Diplodocia +2
Archaeonectrus rostratus lower jurassic lyme regis
Taxa Archaeonectrus

Archaeonectrus rostratus lower jurassic lyme regis

Jurassic Archaeonectrus
Illustration of the holotype metacarpal of Dermodactylus montanus, a pterosaur from the Jurassic of Wyoming.  Reference 
Colbert EH (1969) A Jurassic Pterosaur from Cuba. American Museum Novitates 2370, 1-26
Taxa Dermodactylus

Illustration of the holotype metacarpal of Dermodactylus montanus, a pterosaur from the Jurassic of Wyoming. Reference Colbert EH (1969) A Jurassic Pterosaur from Cuba. American Museum Novitates 2370, 1-26

museum Cuba Jurassic holotype +2
Bone mapping of the skeleton of Plesiopharos moelensis gen. et sp. nov. (ML2302) from the Sinemurian (Lower Jurassic) of São Pedro de Moel (Leiria, Portugal). A. Bones distribution map of the three original extracted blocks (1, 2 and 3) containing ML2302. Arrows with question marks represent that the joining relationship between the blocks is unknown. B. Photographs of the five sub-blocks (1A, 1B, 2C, 2D, and 3E) after preparation works.
Taxa Plesiopharos

Bone mapping of the skeleton of Plesiopharos moelensis gen. et sp. nov. (ML2302) from the Sinemurian (Lower Jurassic) of São Pedro de Moel (Leiria, Portugal). A. Bones distribution map of the three original extracted blocks (1, 2 and 3) containing ML2302. Arrows with question marks represent that the joining relationship between the blocks is unknown. B. Photographs of the five sub-blocks (1A, 1B, 2C, 2D, and 3E) after preparation works.

bone Portugal Jurassic Sinemurian +2
Macroplata tenuiceps, a pliosaur from the Early Jurassic of Europe, pencil drawing
Taxa Macroplata

Macroplata tenuiceps, a pliosaur from the Early Jurassic of Europe, pencil drawing

drawing Early Jurassic Jurassic Macroplata +1
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News

New Jurassic Pterosaur Unearthed in Germany
New Jurassic Pterosaur Unearthed in Germany
Germany Jurassic fossil Monofenestrata Pterosauria new species skeleton
Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of early monofenestratan pterosaur based on a nearly complete and well-preserved fossil skeleton discovered in Bavaria, Germany. The post New Jurassic Pterosaur Unearthed in Germany appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
19/05/2026 sci-news
This strange giant dinosaur may change what we know about Jurassic titans
Argentina Jurassic fossil Bicharracosaurus Brachiosauria Brachiosauridae Dinosauria Diplodocia evolution
A bizarre new giant dinosaur discovered in Argentina is giving paleontologists a fresh look at how Jurassic titans evolved in the Southern Hemisphere. Bicharracosaurus dionidei stretched about 20 meters long and carried a strange mix of features seen in both Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus relatives. Scientists believe it could represent the first known Jurassic brachiosaurid from South America, helping fill a major gap in the dinosaur fossil record.
12/05/2026 sciencedaily
Early Sauropodomorph Dinosaur Unearthed in China
Early Sauropodomorph Dinosaur Unearthed in China
China Early Jurassic Jurassic Dinosauria Massopoda new species partial skeleton
A new genus and species of massopodan sauropodomorph that lived during the Early Jurassic epoch has been identified from a partial skeleton unearthed in southwestern China. The post Early Sauropodomorph Dinosaur Unearthed in China appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
04/05/2026 sci-news
Ammonite Model Proves Invaluable When on a Guided Fossil Walk
Jurassic fossil
Lyme Regis is famous for its fossils.  Indeed, thousands of tourists flock to this part of the "Jurassic Coast" on the hunt for fossils. It is sensible to book a fossil walk with an experienced guide. Our chum Brandon Lennon took the guys out from the "All the Gear" YouTube channel for a guided fossil
04/05/2026 everythingdinosaur
190-million-year-old “Sword Dragon” fossil rewrites ichthyosaur history
United Kingdom Jurassic fossil Ichthyosauria evolution skeleton
A newly identified ichthyosaur from the UK’s Jurassic Coast is rewriting part of the prehistoric playbook. Nicknamed the “Sword Dragon of Dorset,” the three-meter-long marine reptile lived during a poorly understood window of evolution when major ichthyosaur groups were disappearing and new ones emerging. Its beautifully preserved skeleton — complete with a blade-like snout and possible last meal — helps pinpoint when this dramatic transition occurred.
24/02/2026 sciencedaily
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