LiveScience Image Gallery

Dinosaur Fossils

  • Camarasaurus Skull

    © 2003 Calvin J. Hamilton ScienceViews.com

    Camarasaurus Skull

    This skull cast is from Dinosaur National Monument, Utah. It dates to the Jurassic Period, about 150 million years ago. This picture was taken on Nov. 10, 2003 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Click to enlarge.

  • Tyrannosaurus Rex

    © 2003 Calvin J. Hamilton ScienceViews.com

    Tyrannosaurus Rex

    This is the skull of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever found. The Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in Hill City, South Dakota excavated it. This picture was taken on Nov. 10, 2003 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Click to enlarge.

  • Velociraptor Skull

    Courtesy American Museum of Natural History

    Velociraptor Skull

    Velociraptor, which means “speedy thief,” had a sharp, deadly, sickle-shaped, retractable, 3.5-inch (9 cm) claw on each foot (located on each second toe). The Velociraptor may have been able to run up to roughly 40 mph (60 km/hr) for short bursts. This predator may have hunted in packs. Click to enlarge.

  • Uberabasuchus Terrificus

    AP Photo/Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro, HO

    Uberabasuchus Terrificus

    A skull of the Uberabasuchus Terrificus, a fossil of a prehistoric crocodile, was discovered nearly intact in Uberaba where the dinosaur lived some 70 million years ago. For more information, [read the full story.] Click to enlarge.

  • Fossil Site

    NASA

    Fossil Site

    This true color Landsat 5 image of the Gobi desert covers an area between Ukhaa Tolgod and the Flaming Cliffs, two of Mongolia s most famous fossil sites. Landsat data are more accurate than existing maps of the region, so they are extremely helpful in the search for fossils. Click to enlarge.

  • Dinosaur Eggs

    © 2003 Calvin J. Hamilton ScienceViews.com

    Dinosaur Eggs

    Many fossilized dinosaur eggs have been found, at over 200 sites around the world. Very rarely do the eggs have the preserved parts of embryos in them, so it is often difficult to determine the species of the dinosaur. This picture was taken on July 7, 2003 at Port Angeles, Washington. Click to enlarge.

  • Intact Embryo

    ESO [(Negative #17089)/(Mark Ellison) Courtesy Dept. of Library Services, American Museum of Natural History]

    Intact Embryo

    The discovery of dinosaur eggs at the Flaming Cliffs —with intact embryos—stunned the world in the 1920s. Click to enlarge.

  • Oviraptor Nest

    ESO[(Negative #5789) Courtesy Dept. of Library Services, American Museum of Natural History]

    Oviraptor Nest

    This oviraptor nest—filled with eggs—demonstrates one of the most surprising finds from the Gobi Desert that some dinosaurs cared for their young. Click to enlarge.

  • Finding Fossils

    ESO [Courtesy American Museum of Natural History]

    Finding Fossils

    Finding fossils in the desert takes a skilled eye. This photograph of a protoceratops skull (the hammer is for scale) shows how fossils look before they are excavated. Click to enlarge.

  • Juvenile Protoceratops

    Courtesy American Museum of Natural History

    Juvenile Protoceratops

    Shown above is the post-excavated picture of a Juvenile Protoceratops. (see previous picture). Known as the ‘fighting dinosaur,’ the Velociraptor was a fierce carnivore that hunted prey animals, such as the plant-eating Protoceratops. Click to enlarge.

  • Neuquenraptor Argentinus

    Photo courtesy of Fernando Novas, Argentine Museum of Natural History

    Neuquenraptor Argentinus

    Shown above is a photo of a fossil foot of new raptor dinosaur species, Neuquenraptor argentinus. For more information, [read the full story.] Click to enlarge.

  • Dinosaur Fossil Found in Mammal‘s Stomach

    AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

    Dinosaur Fossil Found in Mammal‘s Stomach

    Hu Yaouming, unseen, a graduate student who studies at the American Museum of Natural History points to the fossil of a 130 million year-old mammal called Repenomamus robustus with the remains of a very young Psittacosaurus in its stomach Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Scientists say the animal s last meal probably is the first proof that mammals hunted small dinosaurs some 130 million years ago. It contradicts conventional evolutionary theory that early mammals were timid, chipmunk-sized creatures that scurried in the looming shadow of the giant reptiles. For more information, [read the full story.] Click to enlarge.

  • Fossilized Heart

    AP Photo/Karen Tam

    Fossilized Heart

    The bones and fossilized heart of a 66-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton is shown, Thursday, April 20, 2000, at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, N.C. The fossilized heart _ with two ventricles and a single aortic stem, shown in the lower- center of the photo, between an apex of shoulder bones, is the first one ever found in a dinosaur. Researchers said it resembles the heart of a mammal or bird more than that of a reptile and leads to the conclusion that some, if not all, dinosaurs were warm-blooded. Click to enlarge.

  • Longisquama insignis

    Oregon State University

    Longisquama insignis

    According to some scientists, this 220-million-year-old fossil, from the late Triassic era. offers evidence that dinosaurs were not ancestral to birds. An archosaur called Longisquama insignis, a small reptile roughly the size of a mouse, has ignited scientific controversy due to the six vane-like appendages attached to either side of Longisquama s back. Some researchers believe the appendages were non-avian feathers and that early archosaurs were the ancestors of modern birds. Longisquama is controversial because it s not a dinosaur, and most paleontologists believe that birds evolved from dinosaurs. In 1999, a team of scientists who studied the fossil found arresting parallels between the appendages and feathers, most notably, a hollow shaft with a sheath characteristic of modern feathers. Some scientists believe this shows that the genetic and developmental potential to produce feathers was present in these early archosaurs. The team also reached the conclusion that the feathers weren t used for thermoregulation but likely allowed the creature to glide between trees. Click to enlarge.

  • Parowan Dinosaur Tracks

    © 2003 Calvin J. Hamilton ScienceViews.com

    Parowan Dinosaur Tracks

    These tracks are much larger than those located at the Johnson Farm in St. George, Utah. In this picture two tracks are overlayed onto each other. This picture was taken on April 17, 2004 at Parowan, Utah. Click to enlarge.

  • Copralite - Dinosaur Dung

    © 2003 Calvin J. Hamilton ScienceViews.com

    Copralite - Dinosaur Dung

    Shown above is a picture of dinosaur dung. The photo was taken at St. George, Utah on July 16, 2003. Click to enlarge.

  • A King-Sized Theropod Coprolite

    Photo available at USGS/HVO

    A King-Sized Theropod Coprolite

    Fossil feces from a carnivorous dinosaur. Specimen was found in southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada. Scale bar is 15 centimeters (approximately 6 inches) long. The results of research by Karen Chin, Timothy T. Tokaryk, Gregory M. Erickson, and Lewis C. Calk. Click to enlarge.

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