Let’s go on a journey back in time into the world was nothing like today and nature and dinosaurs ruled the Earth. This guide provides wonderful illustrations along with detailed information to provide a deeper insight about these ancient beings.
This blog post is like a door to learning about many of the common dinosaur species in a bite-sized information which will help you understand about these dinosaurs in a short time and you will be surprised by the miracles that once roamed our planet.
The Wonderful World of Dinosaurs:
The world of dinosaurs is full of surprises and mysteries in every corner and it has fascinated paleontologists and general audiences everywhere around the world. Dinosaurs are one of the interesting prehistoric creatures which caught our imagination for centuries since its first discovery.
Why Dinosaurs Continue to Fascinate Us?
Dinosaurs are fascinating animals and they will continue to fascinate us with their huge diversity and what they tell us about the Earth’s past. By studying dinosaurs, we get to learn about the life on Earth during the Mesozoic Era and they various kinds of dinosaurs that lived ranging from meat-eating Theropods to the large and intimidating size of Sauropods and how all dinosaurs adapted to survive for the longest time on Earth.
The Importance of Visual Representation in Paleontology:
Illustration and Art created by Paleoartists are important in Paleontology because seeing a fully realized extinct animal is not only fun and easy to understand but also paleontologists know if the representation matches the fossils and if the theory or hypothesis they surmised is correct or not. And because Dinosaurs are extinct and we cannot go into the wild to take photos like we can with the living animals, art and illustrations created by paleoartists are important for that very reason for us to have an accurate idea to understand their anatomy and how they might have lived.
Three Major Dinosaur Period:
Dinosaurs existed in three major time periods but not all time periods had exact amount of time and period division is based on the extinction events that happened in between but fortunately, some extinction events were not big enough until the big extinction that happened to erase all the dinosaurs and similar prehistoric creatures from the face of the Earth. These three main time periods are known as Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous with each period having its own unique dinosaur genera.
Triassic Period Dinosaurs:
During the Triassic Period, dinosaurs were getting their start in this new planet and among them, Eoraptor, Herrerasaurus, Plateosaurus and Coelophysis. They existed alongside a whole host of weird and different kinds of reptiles like Rauisuchus, Postosuchus, Desmatosuchus, Placerias and many more. This is also the time when Pterosaurs, the flying reptiles, and many marine reptiles started to explode as well.
Jurassic Period Dinosaurs:
Jurassic Period is when the dinosaurs began diversifying into many different kinds and chief among the division was the Saurischia and Ornithischia. All dinosaurs are divided within these 2 groups. Some Jurassic Period dinosaurs include the likes of Brachiosaurus, Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Stegosaurus, Scelidosaurus, Diplodocus, Heterodontosaurus and so many more that I could go on and on but yeah, dinosaurs were everywhere where land was available. For the skies, it was the home of pterosaurs and for the seas, it was mainly pliosaurs, plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs.
Cretaceous Period Dinosaurs:
The last period of dinosaurs, Cretaceous Period, where the speciation went into an overdrive where a single subgroup had multiple genus of dinosaurs and some of these dinosaurs include Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor, Utahraptor, Parasaurolophus, Ouranosaurus, Corythosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Argentinosaurus, Dreadnoughtus, Alamosaurus, Spinosaurus, Suchomimus, Baryonyx, Giganotosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Mapusaurus, Carnotaurus, Rugops, and the list just goes on and on and on. If you know any dinosaur name, chances are, they come from the Cretaceous Period.
Understanding the Dinosaur Classification:
Dinosaurs are classified into several different groups with main groups like how we classify modern day animals and this classification helps us in understanding their wide range of variety and evolution. They are grouped accordingly to their characteristics and in which time period they lived in. Most times, these features would lead into a creation of a new group but not a main group.
Classification of Dinosaurs:
I touched briefly on the classification of dinosaurs and that the two main groups of dinosaurs are Saurischia and Ornithischia. These are the only 2 main groups where all dinosaurs fit in. The 2 groups are then divided into more groups and the second most important grouping are Theropods and Sauropods in Saurischia and Stegosauria, Ankylosauria, Ceratopsia, Pachycephalosauria, and Ornithopoda in Ornithischia.
Dinosaur Illustrations with Names
Theropods: The Carnivorous Dinosaurs:
Theropods are probably the most popular kind of dinosaurs that everyone knows because this is the group where the poster dinosaurs comes from. Most theropods are meat-eaters or carnivores and they are pretty common in every dinosaur ecosystem. Every area has to have a theropod, that’s how it works and it amazes everyone that this group survived for the entire Mesozoic Era.
Tyrannosaurus: The King of Dinosaurs:
Tyrannosaurus, the most famous and well-known and well-studied dinosaur of all time and it is known for its huge jaws and size along with massive teeth for hunting and crushing bones. The Tyrannosaurus was a pure muscular force of nature in the Late Cretaceous Period and was one of the top hunters in the food chain and also one of the last to see the final extinction of the dinosaurs.
Velociraptor: The Swift Thief:
Velociraptors were one of the many theropods that become famous because of a certain film franchise. This small, feathered dinosaurs lived before the Tyrannosaurus and lived in Mongolia. The dinosaur was known for its small and agile build with a suspiciously large brain to body ratio. The brain might have helped it to create tactics and quick thinking because of it being fast and small size, it would need to constantly think of a response for any immediate situation that might happen.
Notable Theropods:
There were hundreds of Theropods and I can’t list all of them but some of the ones included here have their own dedicated post, be sure to check that out as well if you wanna know more about them.
Allosaurus:
One of the largest theropod dinosaur of the Jurassic Period and quite well-known. It has also been given the nickname of being the Lion of the Jurassic Period.
Spinosaurus:
One of the top 3 largest theropod dinosaurs and it is also a semi-aquatic dinosaur with a huge sail on its back and a paddle-shaped tail.
Carnotaurus:
Carnotaurus, also known as the bull-hunter because of its menacing horns and great running speeds.
These couple of Theropods show how a simple body plan can be changed and adapted throughout the periods and environments to place themselves in the nature’s ecosystem.
Sauropods: Long-necked Titans:
The Sauropods, also known as the Long-necked dinosaurs were also one of the most famous kinds of dinosaurs. It is also my mom’s favorite kind of dinosaurs. They are so calm but huge and the fact that they got this big so long ago is the thing that fascinates everyone.
Brachiosaurus: Arm Lizard:
One of the most famous sauropod, also made famous by a certain franchise, lived in the Jurassic Period and also probably the largest sauropod ever in this period. Its name’s meaning, ‘Arm Lizard’ comes from the fact like how the front limbs are so much taller the back limbs and thus the name.
Diplodocus: Double Beam:
Another famous Jurassic Period sauropod is called Diplodocus and the reasoning behind this name is because the double-beamed chevron bones located in the underside of the tail, which were then considered unique.
Notable Sauropods:
The first 2 maybe the popular ones but there were even more Sauropods that I cannot list all of them here but here are some of them.
Argentinosaurus:
Argentinosaurus is the largest animal and dinosaur of all time and it is studied enough for paleontologists to give that title. While some other fragmentary fossils have been found for other sauropods, they are too fragmented for research and so, Argentinosaurus holds the title of the largest dinosaur on Earth.
Apatosaurus:
Apatosaurus is also one of the most popular sauropod of all time and new discoveries have found that some species of Apatosaurus had small spikes coming out of their necks and it could be a form of defense mechanism.
Mamenchisaurus:
Mamenchisaurus was an incredibly long-necked dinosaur, much more longer than the neck of Brachiosaurus but not necessarily higher in mass though. Mamenchisaurus is one of the many dinosaurs to be found in China.
Ceratopsians: Horned Dinosaurs:
You probably already but Ceratopsians are one of the most diverse group of dinosaurs of all time and its rise during the Cretaceous Period was super fast and they covered most of the planet, most of them were mainly found in North America. Their uniqueness comes from the horned faces and a strong frill at the back of the head, making them a natural super weapon. I would not provoke them if I were because they are more dangerous than any elephant or rhinoceros and the fully-adult ones have experience fighting large theropods, so be careful if you do find one.
Triceratops: Three-Horned Face:
Triceratops are one of the most popular dinosaur as it appears alongside Tyrannosaurus and it was discovered much earlier than Tyrannosaurus. Its distinctive face was guaranteed to make it famous. I mean, how many times do you see a dinosaur with 2 long horns above its eyes and a small on top of the nose to make sure of extra damage it can cause with a sharp beak and a huge frill. There is no mistaking for it to be a Triceratops.
Styracosaurus: Spiked Lizard:
Styracosaurus is another one of the many classic dinosaurs most people know about of its singular long nose horn and a greatly decorated spiked frill and thus the name’s meaning, Spiked Lizard. Those adoration were mainly for defense as well as a display structure.
Notable Ceratopsians:
There are even more Ceratopsians than I can count on hand and I cannot list them all but I can let you know of some of them.
Protoceratops:
Protoceratops was one of the first ceratopsian that looked an early version of Triceratops with a small size, small frill and no horns. Paleontologists hypothesize that dinosaurs like Protoceratops gave rise and evolved into larger forms like Triceratops and Styracosaurus.
Centrosaurus:
Centrosaurus was another of the well-researched ceratopsian with loads of fossils found. It surprisingly had a smaller frill compared to other ceratopsians but it came with a decently long nose horn.
Chasmosaurus:
Out of many ceratopsians, Chasmosaurus was very unique with a large and rectangular-shaped frill with spikes all around. The name’s meaning is ‘Opening Lizard’ because the skull had massive holes which is the case for many ceratopsian skull structure.
Stegosauria: The Plated Dinosaurs:
Stegosauria, a group of dinosaurs well known for plates on its back and a spiked tail, reflects the diversity of ancient times when dinosaurs were beginning to experiment with different body plans, one of which became the Stegosauria. These features once puzzled the paleontologists, but now with modern advancements and loads more discovered, we have an answer as to why this form evolved. Most of the Stegosaurian dinosaurs existed only in the Jurassic Period but another line of Stegosauria became something else which you will know about it soon.
Stegosaurus: Roofed Lizard:
Stegosaurus is also one of the earliest discovered dinosaurs and one of many to be discovered in USA. Stegosaurus changed throughout history but it always had the kite-shaped plates on the back and 2 pairs of spikes at the end of the tail. Paleontologists now know that the plates were used of body temperature control as well as a display feature and the tail spikes were for defense against predators. It also had bony plating around the throat area for further protection.
Notable Stegosauria:
Stegosauria diversified super quick across all parts of the world and many of them were also discovered in Asia. For the short time it existed, there were a lot of them.
Kentrosaurus:
Kentrosaurus was one of the many Stegosaurus that became popular as a smaller version of Stegosaurus but what was distinctive about this dinosaur was that it started to have 2 rows of spikes halfway from the back to the tail instead of plates like most other stegosauria.
Huayangosaurus:
Huayangosaurus is a very different Stegosauria compared with Kentrosaurus & Stegosaurus as it had spikes on the shoulders and some on the back but not all. Most of it was plates and just a bit on the top of the hind legs were spikes and usually this does not happen and thus making the group even more diverse.
Ankylosauria: Armored Dinosaur:
With the extinction of Stegosauria, there was a space in the ecosystem left and one group of dinosaurs which were related with Stegosauria are called Ankylosauria. Ankylosauria is known for their strong armor like structure on the back and some also having spikes jutting out from the sides for extra defense and a club-like tail to bash other dinosaurs which threatens them and gravely injure them.
Ankylosaurus: Fused Lizard:
Ankylosaurus, another of the popular dinosaurs and the reason for its popularity is pretty obvious. Built like a tank with armored scutes/bones all over its back and a long tail with a heavy club at the end and a well aimed strike could kill you instantly but it will definitely break bones which is guaranteed.
Notable Ankylosauria:
Ankylosauria was also quite diverse and it also had 2 subgroups, ones with clubbed tails and ones without it but heavily armored either way. These are some of them.
Euoplocephalus:
Euoplocephalus was a little smaller than Ankylosaurus but it had more pronounced spiked armor than Ankylosaurus but also had the trademarked clubbed tail.
Nodosaurus:
Nodosaurus is a different kind of Ankylosauria and it belongs in a separate group where the dinosaurs actually does not have clubbed tails and instead it has more of a traditional tail but with loads of spikes. Another example of how dinosaurs keep experimenting different forms for own lifestyle.
Ornithopods: Bird-hipped Dinosaurs:
Ornithopod is the classic-looking four-legged dinosaurs which look pretty plain and some have more head ornamentation. These are the dinosaurs that did not go through massive changes like Ceratopsians, Stegosauria or even Ankylosauria, they just evolved from two-legged dinosaur to a four-legged dinosaur and just increased in size and some grew to be absolutely gigantic.
Iguanodon: The Iguana Tooth:
Iguanodon was one of the very first dinosaurs to be ever discovered and the first thing paleontologists found was a thumb fossil which they thought looked an iguana’s tooth and thought it was from a giant iguana-like creature and how wrong they were because now we know it to be a large Ornithopod with a huge clawed thumb for defense and one of the most iconic dinosaurs of the Cretaceous Period.
Parasaurolophus: Besides Crested Lizard:
Parasaurolophus is one of the many commonly known dinosaurs and it is quite iconic mainly for the duck-billed mouth and a long-tubular looking crest growing from the head. Those crests were used as an alarm to warn the herd of Parasaurolophus if there was any theropod hunting them. The crests could have been used for communication as well.
Notable Ornithopods:
Ornithopods went into overdrive during the Cretaceous Period because Ornithopods were all around the world with some of the largest coming from Russia and China. Here are some of the ornithopods.
Edmontosaurus:
Edmontosaurus was one of the largest ornithopod ever and it was found in the USA and Canada. Paleontologists have thought that it might have migrated between the countries every season.
Maiasaura:
Maiasaura became an unique dinosaur even though it is a medium-sized ornithopod and it is because it was found alongside eggs which were of Maiasaura. A mother protecting her own eggs before dying and it went to show that dinosaurs did have parental qualities and not vicious monsters. From then on, dinosaurs went from terrible parents to amazing parents, after all without proper care, how would a dinosaur grow up to be strong and powerful.
Shantungosaurus:
Shantungosaurus started to become popular recently and it is probably the largest Ornithopod that ever existed and it was discovered from China.
Prehistoric Marine Reptiles and Flying Reptiles:
While dinosaurs kept on ruling the land, the skies and the oceans were filled with other various kinds of reptiles. Flying reptile, or Pterosaurs were the only group of flying reptiles which diversified into many subgroups where as for the oceans, there were many kinds of Marine reptiles like the Mosasaurs, Plesiosaurs, Pliosaurs, and Ichthyosaurs to name a few.
Marine Reptiles: Mosasaurus and Plesiosaurs:
Prehistoric Marine Reptiles ruled the seas and oceans as long as the dinosaurs and also became extinct alongside them tragically. These are the reptiles that gave rise to the ideas of Sea Monsters because of their immense size and unique body structure. Some had long necks and a short tail, while one had huge jaws with long flippers and another one had huge jaws with a slender tail, all a part of nature’s design. Below is just a snippet of the ones that existed.
Elasmosaurus:
Elasmosaurus is one of the iconic plesiosaurs, a super long-neck with a mouth full of sharp teeth to catch slippery fish and long flippers to help it swim through the seas easily.
Opthalmosaurus:
Opthalmosaurus was one of the many different kinds of ichthyosaurs that evolved. Opthalmosaurus looked very much like a dolphin but with a longer snout, bigger eyes, and a vertical tail orientation and also a reptile. Almost all marine reptiles gave live birth babies.
Pterosaurs: The Rulers of the Sky:
Pterosaurs were one of the group of reptiles that took the skies as early as Triassic Period unlike dinosaurs taking time until the first avian-dinosaurs starting evolve around Jurassic Period. Pterosaurs evolved into many different forms and some forms became as large as small jets.
Pteranodon:
You surely the Pteranodon, the long-crested, long-toothless beaked flyer that soared along the shorelines of USA, catching fish from the seaside and making nests on cliffs.
Quetzalcoatlus:
Quetzalcoatlus was among the group of pterosaurs known for huge sizes that dwarfed small planes. Its ultra-long beak was useful to scrape out any meat from carcasses and eating up baby dinosaurs.
Recently Discovered Dinosaur Species:
The recent years have seen many dinosaur discoveries that continues to amaze scientist that we have not finished discovering all the dinosaur species on our planet. Dinosaurs like Duonychus, Yi Qi, Tyrannomimus, Lokiceratops and so many more. Please do check out some of dinosaur blogs here.
Dinosaurs in Modern Media and Culture:
Dinosaurs catch our imagination, right outside of science. They have made us attractive for centuries. His attraction is as strong as usual.
In movies and TV, dinosaurs come into life. They mix science with imagination. This mixture entertains and teaches us about these ancient beings.
Dinosaur Depictions in Films and Television:
Movies like “Jurassic Park” and “The Land of Time” are classics. They introduce dinosaurs to small audiences. As the people of the TV show, the BBC and the National Geographic, dinosaurs show more accurately. They use the latest science.
The Impact of Art on Dinosaur Visualization:
Digital art changes how we see dinosaurs. Artists can make detailed, lifelike dinosaur models. This makes entertainment and learning more engaging.
| Medium | Examples | Impact |
| Films | Jurassic Park, The Land Before Time | Entertainment and Education |
| Television | BBC Documentaries, National Geographic | Scientific Accuracy and Education |
| Digital Art | Realistic Models, Animated Content | Enhanced Visualization and Immersion |
In modern media, dinosaurs show our permanent interest in them. As technology increases, we will see more detailed dinosaurs stories. It must learn even more fun with them.
Conclusion:
The discovery of images of dinosaurs with names has elaborated on our understanding of these ancient beings. These pictures have given rise to our imagination and curiosity.
The paintings of the dinosaurs have taught us about different species, such as hefty tirenosaurus rax and mild brachiosorus. They show us diversity and complexity of dinosaurs.
When we find new dinosaurs, the value of the images of dinosaurs increases. These images make the past alive, connect us to these wonderful creatures.
By looking at the paintings of dinosaurs and learning about their classification, we grow to appreciate the natural world. We see the incredible creatures that lived here once.