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HANDBOOKS
DINOSAURS
DINOSAURS
AND OTHER PREHISTORIC LIFE
HAZEL RICHARDSON
Consultant
DR. GREGORY F. FUNSTON
NEW EDITION
DK DELHI DK LONDON
Senior Editor Suefa Lee Editor Annie Moss
Senior Art Editor Mahua Sharma Managing Editor Angeles Gavira Guerrero
Assistant Editor Nayan Keshan Managing Art Editor Michael Duffy
Assistant Art Editors George Thomas, Aarushi Dhawan Jacket Design Development Manager Sophia MTT
DTP Designers Umesh Singh Rawat, Vijay Kandwal Senior Production Controller Meskerem Berhane
Senior Managing Editor Rohan Sinha Production Editor George Nimmo
Managing Art Editor Sudakshina Basu Associate Publishing Director Liz Wheeler
Production Manager Pankaj Sharma Publishing Director Jonathan Metcalf
Pre-production Manager Sunil Sharma Art Director Karen Self
Consultant Dr. Gregory F. Funston
FIRST EDITION
Project Editor Cathy Meeus Art Editor Lee Riches
Picture Researcher Mariana Sonnenberg Designers Tracy Miles, Rebecca Milner
DTP Designer Rajan Shah Production Controller Melanie Dowland
Senior Editor Angeles Gavira Senior Art Editor Ina Stradins
Managing Editor Liz Wheeler Managing Art Editor Phil Ormerod
Consultant Dr. David Norman

2/3D Digital illustrations Jon Hughes
Additional 3D content Russell Gooday
This edition published in 2021

First published in Great Britain in 2003 by
Dorling Kindersley Limited
DK, One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens, London, SW11 7BW
Copyright © 2003, 2021 Dorling Kindersley Limited

A Penguin Random House Company
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
001–322044–Oct/2021
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-0-2414-7099-2
Printed and bound in China
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Stewardship Council ™ certified
paper – one small step in DK’s
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For more information go to
www.dk.com/our-green-pledge
Contents
INTRODUCTION 6 Jurassic Period 58
Classification of Life 8 Theropods 60
What Were Dinosaurs? 10 Sauropodomorphs 72
Dinosaur and Bird Evolution 12 Ornithischians 82
Mammal Evolution 14 Other Diapsids 90
Geological Time 16 Synapsids 102
Fossil Evidence 18
Precambrian Time 20 Cretaceous Period 104
Cambrian Period 22 Theropods 106
Ordovician Period 24 Sauropods 126
Silurian Period 26 Ornithischians 128
Devonian Period 28 Other Diapsids 148
Carboniferous Period 30 Mammals 156
Permian Period 32
CENOZOIC ERA 158
MESOZOIC ERA 34 Paleogene Period 160
Triassic Period 36 Mammals 162
Diapsids 38 Birds 172
Synapsids 54
Neogene Period 174
Mammals 176
Birds 184
Quaternary Period 188

Mammals 190
Birds 198
Additional Dinosaurs 200

Glossary 210
Index 216
Acknowledgments 224
6 | Introduction
HOW THIS BOOK WORKS

This book opens with an introductory early history. The main part of the
section that describes the evolution of book contains profiles of the major
early animals, followed by a summary prehistoric animals from the Mesozoic
of the environment on Earth during its and Cenozoic Eras.
58 | Mesozoic Era Jurassic Period | 59
JURASSIC PERIOD JURASSIC LANDMASSES a map and introduction

description of
201–145 MILLION YEARS AGO At the start of the Jurassic Period, there
AT THE BEGINNING of the Jurassic Period, mainly primitive types of gymnosperms. LAURASIA
was once again a supercontinent called
Gondwana south of the Equator. Later to prehistoric
the positions
the world was still hot and arid. Major There were also ferns, horsetails, and in the period (see map), this split to form
continental movements caused climate
change throughout the period: increased
club mosses, and huge forests of these
plants spread worldwide. Continental
TETHYS SEA
the landmasses that were to become
present-day Australia, Antarctica, India, life for each
of the continents
Africa, and South America. Laurasia
time period
GONDWANA
rainfall led to a reduction in desert areas, movements led to the creation of (comprising the future North America
climates were more humid, and, as the warm, shallow seas, which became and Europe) had begun to take shape in
during each
period progressed, habitats in general filled with coral reefs and new forms the northern hemisphere.
became more green and luxuriant. of marine life, including large reptiles.
However, lake deposits show that there Pterosaurs were present in large
were millions of cycles of dry and wet
periods. Most Jurassic plants were still
numbers, and the earliest birds
appeared at the end of the period.
time period
60 | Jurassic Period
JURASSIC LIFE
Early, bipedal sauropodomorphs
THEROPODS
still dominated Early Jurassic habitats,
but as the period progressed, they were
DIVERSITY
usurped by the giant sauropods, such
In the early Jurassic Period, the maximum
as Apatosaurus. The first armoured
size of dinosaurs increased, and this
dinosaurs – the stegosaurs – also appeared.
trend continued throughout the period.
Protective armour may have been an
evolutionary response to the emergence
of ever-larger carnivorous dinosaurs. The
THE JURASSICbelow) and lizards,saw
Because of this, mammals (such as
Sinoconodon, tended the true transition getting smaller, so theropods occupied
to be rather small in order to maintain
first true mammals evolved, and probably
survived by remaining small and living a
wing supported by
greatly elongated
toichthyosaurs,
dinosaur-dominated
their ecological niches. In the seas, the
a fish-like group of marine
ecosystems, a wide variety of ecological roles. Many
mainly nocturnal existence.
and theropods replaced pseudosuchians of the lineages that would come to rule
fourth finger
reptiles, were at their zenith, sharing the
relatively warm Jurassic oceans with other marine
short tail
aspredators,
top
and marinepredators.
including plesiosaurs, sharks,
crocodiles. Some of the early the Cretaceous originated in the Jurassic,
lineages, like dilophosaurids, became including dromaeosaurs, tyrannosaurs,
Trees
slightly larger, but it was the ceratosaurs and troodontids. Some of these
Marine predators
Later pterosaurs
In the Late Jurassic, new forms of
Many forests
of evergreen trees and tetanurans that dominated the food coelurosaurs, which were fast runners
spread throughout
Giant pliosaurs such as Liopleurodon (above), filled the
warm Jurassic seas, hunting large prey including other
pterosaurs, such as Anurognathus
(above) appeared. Their main
the world. Araucaria
were conifers. A fossilized
chain. The ceratosaur lineage spawned the with relatively long arms, started to use
marine reptiles. They had developed an efficient “flying” feature was a very short tail that
abelisaurs, which remained top predators their feathered forelimbs in unique ways,
cone is pictured, left.
action for swimming rapidly through the water. gave them greater agility in the air.
4,600mya 4,000mya 3,000mya 2,000mya

in the southern
1,000mya 500mya 250mya
hemisphere
0
until the experimenting with generating lift by
end-Cretaceous extinction. Tetanurans flapping or gliding. It is now clear that
diverged in skull shape, with some groups active powered flight originated
developing elaborate crests and horns, independently multiple times in these
and others an elongated snout – taken dinosaurs, but one particular dinosaur,
▲ The time periods to an extreme in the bizarre spinosaurs.
As these lineages were getting bigger,
Archaeopteryx (see pp.70–71), was
especially adept at flying. Its relatives
Each geological period is introduced in a other groups like the coelurosaurs were continue to rule the skies today.
double-page feature, detailing the climatic
conditions and, where relevant, plant life Group: THEROPODA Subgroup: Ceratosauria Time: 156–149mya
and prevalent animal forms. A timeline
at the base of the pages indicates the Ceratosaurus
chronological position of the period. SER-AT-OH-SAW-RUS
Ceratosaurus (“horned lizard”) was named for the short horn
above its nose. Another striking feature was the line of bony
species name plates that ran down its back – so far, it is the only theropod
known to have had them. It had strong, yet short, arms, with
four fingers on each hand. Three of the fingers were clawed.
syllable-by-syllable It had a deep, broad tail, and feet with three large toes and a
pronunciation guide reduced back toe. Its teeth were long and blade-like. Although
it superficially resembled a carnosaur such as Allosaurus, it was light skull
more primitive, and its tail was flexible rather than stiffened
with bony ligaments as was the case with the carnosaurs.
the name of the palaeontologist who DESCRIBED BY Marsh 1884
first described the species, and the year HABITAT Forested plains
in which the findings were published body balanced

at hips
habitat in which saurischian

the animal lived hip structure
three long,
forward-facing,
clawed toes
Length: 4.5–6m (15–20ft) Weight: ~1 tonne (1 ton) Diet: Herbivorous dinosaurs, other reptiles
approximate approximate type of food

length (head to weight on which the
tail) or height animal lived
How this book works | 7
▼ Animal profiles COLOUR KEY

Arranged by time period and by group, each major animal
The bands at the top of each entry
is described in detail. The text includes information about
the animal’s physical features, diet, and lifestyle. Coloured are colour-coded to identify the time
bands summarize key information about classification, period to which it belongs.
dates, dimensions, and diet. Each animal is illustrated
by an artist’s reconstruction and/or fossil remains. Key Time-Period colours
features are annotated. In each case a map identifies the Precambrian Triassic
approximate location of main fossil finds of that creature.
Cambrian Jurassic
time when the animal Ordovician Cretaceous

existed in millions
scientific name scientific name of years ago (mya)
of main group of subgroup or years ago (ya) Silurian Paleogene
Devonian Neogene
Theropods | 61
Group: THEROPODA Subgroup: Dilophosauridae Time: 199–182mya Carboniferous Quaternary
Dilophosaurus bony, Permian

DI-LOAF-OH-SAW-RUS semicircular
crests
Dilophosaurus (“two-ridged lizard”) was
named for the striking pair of bony crests
that adorned its head. These were so thin
and fragile that they were almost certainly the length or
only used for sexual display. Dilophosaurus
had a more primitive body structure than height of each
that of coelurosaurs and carnosaurs – it had a animal is indicated 20cm 1.8m
large head, but was lightly built, with a slender
in comparison to (8in) (6ft)
neck, body, and tail. Once thought to have three long, flexible tail
forward-facing,
been closely related to Coelophysis for its four-
clawed toes human dimensions
fingered hand and a notch in its upper jaw, it is
now more likely to be somewhat intermediate long, slim,
between Coelophysis and the larger Ceratosaurs. powerful red dots indicate the
hind legs
DESCRIBED BY Welles 1970 location of principal
HABITAT Riverbanks fossil finds
Length: 6m (20ft) Weight: ~500kg (½ ton) Diet: Small animals, perhaps fish or carrion
▼ Feature spread
Animals of special interest are featured in a
flattened
snout horn double-page entry. These show the animal in
bony plates running
the type of landscape in which it is believed
along back
to have lived. Additional photographs and
information boxes expand on the standard
information for each featured animal.
long,
flexible tail
80 | Jurassic Period Sauropodomorphs | 81

Group: SAUROPODA Subgroup: Macronaria Time: 157–145mya
Giraffatitan
JI-RAF-A-TIE-TAN
blade-like
Giraffatitan is known from all parts of the
MASSIVE BONES
skeleton except for the important neural arches
teeth
of the vertebrae at the base of the neck. It The femur (thigh bone)
chisel-like teeth
at front of mouth
was one of the tallest and largest sauropods, of the closely-related
and the one in which the lengthening of the Brachiosaurus was over long neck made
forelimbs relative to the hindlimbs reached its 1.8m (6ft) long and up of 1m- (3ft-)
massively thick to long vertebrae
extreme. Together with its long neck, ending in a ball-like
small head, Giraffatitan's giraffe-like stance gave support the dinosaur’s head of
it a great height: up to 16m (50ft). The tail was weight. One of the first femur
relatively short and thick. Like other members of bones discovered by
four-fingered hand its family, Giraffatitan had chisel-like teeth – 26 Elmer S. Riggs, in 1900,
was the humerus (upper
long, powerful on each jaw – towards the front of the mouth.
arm bone). It was over
The nostrils were at the front of the snout and
hind legs soft tissue ran back to the nostril openings in the
2.1m (7ft) long, which was
so much greater than that
skull. The legs were pillar-like, and the feet all had air sacs in
of any known humerus, the vertebrae
five toes with fleshy pads behind. The first toe of
that Riggs thought it was lightened the neck
each front foot bore a claw, as did the first three
a crushed femur of an
toes of the hind feet. Like other sauropods, it Apatosaurus (see p.79).
probably travelled in herds. Giraffatitan was
adapted for feeding off vegetation from the tops
reduced of trees. The length of its neck means that it
would have had to have an extremely large,
back toe powerful heart, and very high blood pressure
long foot to pump blood up to its head. Giraffatitan is body sloping
downwards from
thought to have laid its eggs while walking, shoulder to hip
leaving the young to fend for themselves.
DESCRIBED BY Janensch 1914
HABITAT Plains
short tail
artist’s reconstruction gives an

impression of the animal’s
appearance. Where fossil
relatively slim,
pillar-like legs
forelimbs longer
than hindlimbs
evidence is lacking, the Length: 26m (85ft) Weight: ~50 tonnes (49½ tons) Diet: Plants
interpretation is based on what

is known about similar animals
8 | Introduction
CLASSIFICATION OF LIFE
AN ACCURATE UNDERSTANDING outlines the evolution of the major
of living things and how they have groups of amniotes through time,
evolved relies on their being classified from the diapsids and dinosaurs to
into groups according to their similarity. the mammals. This is based on an
Animals are classified in groups of analysis of shared features between
decreasing diversity. The diagram species and their ancestors.
KEY TO FOSSIL
MONOPHYLETIC GROUPS EVIDENCE
A monophyletic group is one that includes all
Dinosaurs
the descendants of a common ancestor. This is
in contrast to a paraphyletic group, where some Pterosaurs
hs
descendants are left out, or a polyphyletic group, Phytosaurs
orp
which artificially groups lineages that are not
rom
Pseudosuchians
closely related. For example, dinosaurs are a
Rhynchosaurs
sau
monophyletic group only when birds – their direct
ho
descendants – are included. Palaeontologists Squamates
Arc
sometimes use paraphyletic groups, such as Tanystropheids
“non-avian dinosaurs”, for convenience, but with
the understanding that these are not meaningful Ichthyopterygian Lepidosaurs
evolutionary groupings. In this book, the Jurassic Sauropterygians
and Cretaceous “Other Diapsid” sections are Diapsids
paraphyletic groupings, because they do not
Parareptiles
include dinosaurs.
Synapsids
NESTED CLADES
Palaeontologists represent the relationships between animals
using cladograms, where lineages are represented by branches
joined at nodes to show common ancestry. Each node
corresponds to a clade and can be given a formal name. These
clades can also be joined to each other to show broader groups.
This means that a species can be part of many nested clades of
broader and broader membership – similar to the old Linnaean
System, but with more levels. Palaeontologists still use Linnaean
s
names for genera and species, but most prefer to use nested
Diapsid
clades instead of Linnaean ranks when discussing broader groups.
CERATOPSIA (e.g. parrot

like beak, frill on skull)
ANKYLOSAURIA Parareptiles
(bony armour ORNITHOPODA
STEGOSAURIA
on skull) (e.g. beak margin
(double row
lower at front
of bony plates
of mouth)
THYREOPHORA on spine) CERAPODA
(bony armour) (short, deep Amniotes
skull)
GENASAURA (teeth inset in jaw)

PALAEOZOIC
ORNITHISCHIA (bird-hipped
pelvis) Devonian Carboniferous Permian
419–359mya 359–299mya 299–
252mya
Classification of life | 9
Dinosaurs Birds
Pterodactyloids
saurs
Archo
Pterosaurs Non-pterodactyloids
Phytosaurs
Aetosaurs
Pseud Crocodylomorphs
osuch
ians
Rhynchosaurs
Mosasaurs
Snakes
Squamates
Lizards
Tanystropheids
Ichthyopterygians
Pliosauroids
Sauropterygians
Plesiosauroids
Placodonts
Choristoderes
Turtles
Pareiasaurs
Procolophonids
Synapsids
MESOZOIC CENOZOIC
Triassic Jurassic Cretaceous Palaeogene Neogene Quaternary

252–201mya 201–145mya 145–66mya 66–23mya 23–2.6mya 2.6mya
– present
10 | Introduction
WHAT WERE DINOSAURS?

DINOSAURS DOMINATED the Earth’s characteristics. These include:
ecosystems for 165 million years. upright limb posture (see
Although they evolved from a opposite), three or fewer
group of reptiles called the phalanges in the fifth
archosaurs, they possessed finger of the hand, an
certain advanced features, elongate deltopectoral
as did other non-dinosaur crest on the humerus, three
groups such as the or more sacral vertebrae,
pterosaurs. Dinosaurs a ball-like head on the femur,
are defined as a group and a fully-open acetabulum
that shares certain (hip-socket in the pelvis).
dorsal (back)
cervical ribs
vertebrae
scapula
(shoulder blade)
thoracic ribs sacral
vertebrae
coracoid
deltopectoral crest
sternum
humerus
ulna
radius
pelvis
femur
metacarpals phalanges
(thigh
(hand bones) (finger
bone)
bones)
tibia
(shin bone)
DINOSAUR SKELETON ischium
In most cases, all we know of dinosaurs is their
bones and/or teeth. Dinosaurs are tetrapod
(four-limbed) vertebrates, as are reptiles, mammals, fibula
and birds, and so they share the same basic body
structure as these other groups. Bones such as the
metacarpals (hand bones) are given the same Latin
name as those of other vertebrates. The dinosaur
metatarsals
shown is Muttaburrasaurus, an ornithischian. (foot bones)
What were dinosaurs? | 11
UPRIGHT POSTURE
ENDOTHERMIC?
Living lizards and crocodiles have a sprawling gait,
with their knees and elbows held out at an angle The traditional view of sluggish, ectothermic
from their bodies. One of the factors that led to the (temperature changing) dinosaurs has largely
success of dinosaurs was their upright stance. This given way to the theory that most were
provides great advantages over the normal reptilian endothermic (constant temperature). Some
posture: it allows for longer strides, and therefore were feathered, many were fast runners, and
faster movement. Early meat-eating archosaurs and some lived in cold climates that would have
dinosaurs were often fast and agile hunters. The been unsuitable for ectothermic animals.
upright posture of the dinosaurs also allowed
moderately large brain close similarities to
the evolution of bipedal (two-legged) walking.
would need endothermic endothermic birds,
metabolism including feathers
Velociraptor
Upright dinosaur Typical sprawling

stance lizard stance
DINOSAUR HIPS Saurischian pelvis

In 1887, the English anatomist Harry The pelvis is made up of the
Seeley recognized that there were two ilium, pubis, and ischium. In
most saurischians, the ischium
different types of dinosaur pelvis. Some ilium
points backwards and the
dinosaurs had a typical lizard-like pelvic pubis points forwards.
structure: Seeley called these saurischian
(“lizard-hipped”). Another group acetabulum
had a pelvis that looked like that
of modern birds. He called
these ornithischian (“bird-
hipped”). It is not clear ischium pubis
whether the two groups
evolved independently Ornithischian pelvis ilium
or from a common In ornithischian dinosaurs, and
saurischian ancestor. some rare saurischian groups,
the pubis lies against the ischium.
acetabulum
caudal (tail)
vertebrae
pubis
tarsus (ankle)
ischium
phalanges (toe bones)

12 | Introduction
DINOSAUR AND BIRD EVOLUTION

THE DINOSAURS and their closest are two main groups of dinosaurs:
relatives were the dominant animals the saurischian (“lizard-hipped”)
throughout the Mesozoic Era. The first group and the ornithischian
Aves
step in the evolution of the dinosaurs (“bird-hipped”) dinosaurs.
occurred in the Permian Period. A new Birds evolved from the
s
n
avia
line of reptiles evolved, called the theropod group of
archosaurs (“ruling reptiles”). Some saurischian dinosaurs
Par
of these developed the ability to walk towards the end of the
upright on two feet. The dinosaurs, Jurassic Period. Together
crocodiles, and the pterosaurs all with the crocodiles,
evolved from these early archosaurs they are the only
during the Triassic Period. There surviving archosaurs.
rs
sau
luro
ORNITHISCHIANS
Coe
All of the ornithischians were plant-eaters, and
they had special adaptations for herbivory. They
had a special, toothless bone at the tip of the
s
ran
jaw called the predentary, which gave them a
toothless beak in front of their teeth. They also nu
ta
Te
had special adaptations to the jaw joint that

allowed the teeth to grind against each other
(occlude). The first major group to appear were
the thyreophorans. This group of armoured
Ceratosaurs
dinosaurs included the stegosaurs and the
ankylosaurs. Another group, the cerapodans,
included the ceratopsians, the horned dinosaurs,
the pachycephalosaurs, the bone-headed
dinosaurs, and the ornithopods, a very diverse
group of mainly bipedal dinosaurs. Sauropo
domorph
s
hians
KEY TO FOSSIL EVIDENCE Massospondylids

Saurisc
urs
Aves Herrerasaurids
osa
kyl
Paravians
An
ns
Coelurosaurs
hora
Dinosaurs
Tetanurans
eop
Sauropodomorphs
Thyr
lians
Saurischians Ornithischians
epha
Ce
Ornithischians ra
p od
inoc
an
s
Marg
PALAEOZOIC MESOZOIC
Carboniferous Permian Triassic Jurassic

359–299mya 299–252mya 252–201mya 201–145mya
Dinosaur and bird evolution | 13
Neoaves
ths
gna
Galloanserans
Neo
Ornithurines
Palaeognaths
Enantiornitheans
Troodontids SAURISCHIANS
Among the saurischians were the
Dromaeosaurs sauropodomorphs, a group of often enormous,
quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaurs that
Oviraptorosaurs
included the sauropods, and the bipedal
Therizinosaurs theropods. The two main groups of theropods
were the ceratosaurs and tetanurans. The
Alvarezsaurs more-primitive ceratosaurs had many of the
bones in their hips and feet fused. The tetanurans
Ornithomimosaurs had a stiff tail and three fingers on each hand and
included large, heavily built predators, such as
Compsognathids the carnosaurs and the tyrannosaurs, as well
as more lightly built animals with small heads and
Tyrannosaurs
long arms, such as the oviraptorids. Advanced
Spinosaurs paravian theropods, such as dromaeosaurs, had
many bird-like features and it is likely that birds
Megalosaurs evolved from this group of dinosaurs.
Allosauroids
Abelisaurs BIRDS
Birds are now known to have evolved from the
Ceratosaurids theropod dinosaurs. Although the first birds
arose in the Jurassic, up until the Cretaceous
Dicraeosaurids
there is only a sparse record of birds.
Diplodocids Archaeopteryx is widely regarded as the first
true bird, and it has many primitive theropod
Brachiosaurids features, such as teeth, a long tail, and claws on
the wing. Recently, many more theropod-like
Titanosaurs intermediate birds have been found, especially
in China. As birds evolved, they developed
Nodosaurids shorter tails, a lighter skeleton, and complex
asymmetrical feathers. By the end of the
Ankylosaurids
Cretaceous, birds were powerful fliers, but most
Stegosaurs still retained teeth – these were only lost in
neornithine birds, which survive today.
Pachycephalosaurs
Chasmosaurines
Ceratopsians
Centrosaurines
Lambeosaurines
Ornithopods
Saurolophines
CENOZOIC
Cretaceous Palaeogene Neogene Quaternary

145–66mya 66–23mya 23–2.6mya 2.6mya
– present
14 | Introduction
MAMMAL EVOLUTION
MAMMALS ARE part of the synapsid Mesozoic, most mammals remained
lineage of amniotes, which arose small, but we now know that some
during the Carboniferous period. lineages diversified in their ecology and
There is debate about which particular some even became large enough to prey
groups of mammaliaformes can be on small dinosaurs. After the extinction
considered true mammals, and so there of the dinosaurs, mammals took over
is uncertainty about whether true global ecosystems, and today they are
mammals appeared in the Late Triassic represented by three groups: placentals,
or in the Jurassic. Throughout the marsupials, and monotremes.
KEY TO FOSSIL EVIDENCE

SYNAPSIDS
Placentals
The synapsids were a group of amniotes that
Marsupials
dominated the land throughout the Permian
and much of the Triassic. They had a single Triconodontids
opening behind the eye socket on each side Mammals
of the skull, giving them a more powerful Mammaliaformes
bite. This group also evolved different types
of teeth, a feature called heterodonty. These Cynodonts
specialized teeth helped them process food Dicynodonts
in the mouth and improved their digestion. Sphenacodontid
This, in turn, helped more specialized
synapsids develop a faster metabolism,
using more energy to grow more quickly
and be more active. In the Triassic or
Jurassic, mammals evolved from one of
these specialized synapsid lineages called
the cynodonts.
es
form
alia
mm
GENETIC EVIDENCE
Ma
For more than a century, palaeontologists

ts
used a classification system of mammals o don
that was based on shared morphological Cyn
characters, such as the shapes and features of
the bones and teeth. This was revolutionized
s
in the early 2000s by studies on the genetic
sid
relationships of living mammals using DNA ap
er
and other molecules. These new techniques Th
showed that many of the groups based on Synapsids
morphology were the result of convergent Dicynodonts
evolution, where two groups independently
evolve the same features because they Sphenacodontids
perform similar functions. Many of the
discrepancies in these classification systems PALAEOZOIC
have since been solved, and palaeontologists
now use a combined framework, considering Carboniferous Permian Triassic
both genetic and morphological data. 359–299mya 299–252mya 252–201mya
Mammal evolution | 15
Cetaceans
MAMMALIAFORMES
s
t yl
As palaeontologists discovered Ruminants
da c
more cynodont fossils, the dividing
t io
tar
line between mammals and their Meridiungulates
Ce
ancestors became blurred. Many of
the close relatives of mammals had Perissodactyls
one or more of the defining mammal
features, but not all of them. These
Canids
ans
might include features of the teeth or
ivor
therians
the specialized mammal-style middle
Felids
Carn
ear. These new fossils now show that
many of these features evolved
several times independently, rather Laurasia Pholidotans
than in a straightforward way.
Palaeontologists often call these Chiropterans
almost-mammal species “proto-
mammals” or lump them together Eulipotyphlans
in a paraphyletic group (see p.102)
Eu
of “mammaliaformes”
arc
Rodents
ho
n tog
Lagomorphs
lira
ns
Placentals Primates
ls
m ma
Xenarthrans
Ma
Me
ta
Afrotherians
the
ria
Marsupials
ns
Triconodontids
Multituberculate
Euharamiyids
Monotremes
Docodonts
Morganucodonts
Tritylodontids
MESOZOIC CENOZOIC
Jurassic Cretaceous Palaeogene Neogene Quaternary

201–145mya 145–66mya 66–23mya 23–2.6mya 2.6mya
– present
16 | Introduction
GEOLOGICAL TIME
GEOLOGISTS SUBDIVIDE the history The oldest rocks that have survived to
of the Earth into very long time be excavated were formed about four
intervals called eons. Eons are, in billion years ago, in the Archean Eon.
turn, subdivided into eras, eras into The earliest fossils come from rocks
periods, and periods into epochs. of about this age.
ROCKS OF AGES
Where rock strata have remained undis turbed, 2.6mya–present QUATERNARY
CENOZOIC ERA
a vertical section through the layers can reveal
the rock types laid down during each time
period. From these, it is possible to identify
23–2.6mya NEOGENE
the environment (such as desert) and
sometimes the age of fossils embedded in
that rock, as shown below for rock strata at
the Grand Canyon, USA. 66–23mya PALEOGENE
ROCK ENVIRONMENT PERIOD 145–66mya CRETACEOUS

MESOZOIC ERA
Shale, siltstone, Tidal flat Triassic

mudstone
201–145mya JURASSIC
Limestone Marine Permian
252–201mya TRIASSIC
Sandstone Desert
Shale Savanna 299–252mya PERMIAN
Mixed strata – shales, Flood plain Permian

sandstones, limestones and Late
Carboniferous
359–299mya CARBONIFEROUS
PALAEOZOIC ERA
Limestone Marine Early

Carboniferous
419–359mya DEVONIAN
Limestone Marine Devonian 444–419mya SILURIAN
Limestone Cambrian
485–444mya ORDOVICIAN
Shale Marine
Sandstone Marine
542–485mya CAMBRIAN
Complex mixed strata Marine and Precambrian

volcanic 4,600–542mya PRECAMBRIAN
4,600mya 4,000mya 3,000mya

Geological time | 17
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA,
provides one of the most impressive
displays of sedimentary deposition
of rocks. It is over 2,000m (6,000ft)
deep, and shows a clear progression
over 300 million years. Layers
include sandy limestone, petrified
sand dunes, and shale.
The ice ages of the Quaternary Period led to the evolution of many mammals
Macrauchenia adapted to cold climates, such as mammoths. Modern humans evolved.
In the Neogene, large expanses of grassland spread, inhabited by grazing mammals

and predatory giant birds. The first hominids evolved from primate ancestors. Titanis
After the end-Cretaceous mass extinctions, mammals evolved into large

Ambulocetus forms. Some took to a marine way of life. Giant flightless birds evolved.
The Cretaceous was a time of flowering plants, browsing duck-billed dinosaurs, immense
tyrannosaurid predators, armoured ankylosaurs, and horned ceratopsians. Didelphodon
In Jurassic times, the land was dominated by huge sauropods and large
Barosaurus predators. A wide variety of pterosaurs evolved. Mammals remained small.
The Triassic marked the dawning of the age of dinosaurs.

Advanced synapsids died out after giving rise to mammals. Herrerasaurus
Synapsids became the dominant land animals during the Permian.

Dimetrodon The period ended with the largest mass extinction event ever.
Tropical forests flourished and oxygen levels were very high during this period.
The first reptiles moved onto the land. Graeophonus
The Devonian Period was a time of rapid evolution. Ammonoids and bony fish evolved
Eastmanosteus and diversified. Trees appeared on land, as did insects and the first four-limbed animals.
Invertebrate species recovered rapidly during the Silurian Period.

Primitive lycopods and myriapods became the first true land animals. Sagenocrinites
Ordovician seas teemed with primitive fish, trilobites, corals, and shellfish. Plants
Estonioceras made their first approaches onto land. The period ended with mass extinctions.
The first animals with skeletons and hard parts such as shells and exoskeletons evolved during the
Cambrian “explosion of life”. The oceans teemed with trilobites, brachiopods, and the first jawless fish. Xystridura
During the Precambrian, life arose in the oceans – first as single-celled bacteria and
Charniodiscus algae, then evolving into soft-bodied, multicellular animals, such as jellyfish and worms.
2,000mya 1,000mya 500mya 250mya 0

18 | Introduction
FOSSIL EVIDENCE
EVIDENCE OF prehistoric life comes are able to seep into the bone
from remains (such as bones) that pores, initiating a process called
over time have become mineralized to permineralization. This reinforces
form fossils. Most animal fossils are of the bones and makes them harder.
creatures that died in or near water. After Sometimes minerals replace the bone
death, if the hard remains, such as teeth completely, petrifying it, or minerals
and bones, quickly become covered in dissolve the bone away, leaving a
mud or sand, dissolved minerals in water bone-shaped hollow called a mould.
dinosaur dies near

water source dinosaur’s body river sediments
decomposes in riverbed cover skeleton
compressed
layers of sand
and mud form
rock strata
DISCOVERY AND
EXCAVATION
Only certain rock types are rich
in dinosaur fossils. These include
sedimentary sandstones, shales,
and mudstones formed in deserts,
swamps, and lakes. Most fossil
discoveries come from areas
where severe erosion exposes
deep layers of rock, such as cliffs
and mountain slopes, or from
places such as quarries and
coalmines. Excavating dinosaurs
from hard rock may necessitate
the use of power tools or Excavation skeleton becomes
Palaeontologists dig around bones to mineralized, enabling it to
explosives. Fossils in desert areas estimate the fossil’s state of preservation withstand weight of rock
can sometimes be exposed by and size. Delicate scraping and chiselling forming overhead
carefully brushing away the sand is needed to reveal delicate structures
covering them. without causing damage.
Fossil evidence | 19
TRACE FOSSILS
Besides fossil remains such as bones,
skin impressions, and teeth, dinosaurs left
other clues to their existence and lifestyle.
Trace fossils include fossil footprint
trackways made in mud that dried out in
the sun (below right). Coprolites (fossilized
droppings) give further clues about a
dinosaur’s anatomy and lifestyle. Piles of
gizzard stones (stones that were swallowed
to aid digestion) are also rarely found.
Fossil of the future?

Dinosaur fossils found in the Sahara Desert
were formed when the area was a swamp.
This camel skeleton may become fossilized
if it is buried by the sand.
The fossilization process

Fossilization depends on the rapid covering of remains by sediments
that exclude oxygen and thereby arrest the normal processes of decay.
In time, minerals from the covering sediments permeate the bone or
other tissues, replacing the original material. The soft tissues usually
decompose before the process of fossilization begins, so
soft-bodied animals, such as jellyfish and
worms, are generally poorly preserved.
remains of more recent

animals and plants form
a separate – “younger” –
fossil layer
excavation or
natural erosion of
rocks reveals fossil-
bearing strata
Tracks
Fossilized dinosaur tracks, also
called ichnites, can provide
information of foot structure,
speed, and in what position
the tail was held. Importantly,
they can also show whether
the animal walked on
two or four feet. The
tracks pictured above
are those of a
theropod dinosaur.
20 | Introduction
PRECAMBRIAN TIME
4,600–542 MILLION YEARS AGO
CURRENT ESTIMATES put the age of the form. Before about 3,000mya, most of
Earth at 4,600 million years. The years the Earth’s surface was volcanic rock,
from that date up until about 542 million with craters and many unstable regions
years ago (mya) are grouped in one of volcanic activity. Stable continental
large division of geological time – the areas then began to form. Fossil evidence
Precambrian. This was the time when of life is first seen in rocks dated at 4,200
life first evolved, although evidence of million years old. The earliest life forms
living creatures is sparse. During the first on Earth were simple cells and bacteria.
million years of its existence, the world More complex cells and algae first
was hot, molten, and totally inhospitable evolved about 1,600mya. Multicelled
to life. As the earth cooled, volcanic plants appeared about 850mya, whereas
gases and water vapour formed a crude the earliest animals (sponges) are about
atmosphere, and the oceans began to 635–660 million years old.
Ediacaran life
impression of early
jellyfish or track of
simple worm
Extraordinary fossils found in Precambrian

rocks of the Ediacaran Period date from
600mya, and are thought to be the remains
of the earliest multicellular animals (Spriggina
and Charniodiscus, opposite). The Mawsonites
fossil (above) has been interpreted as a
jellyfish or traces of a primitive worm.
4,600mya 4,000mya 3,000mya

Precambrian Time | 21
PRECAMBRIAN LANDMASSES
Landmasses began to form about 3,000mya.
N
About 900mya they joined to form the first
ER supercontinent, Rodinia. By 750mya, Rodinia
H NIA
I
RO R T
was sitting across the Equator, but it then

D
NO
started to move southwards. This triggered the

Cryogenian period. Between 750 and 650mya,
SOUTHERN RODINIA Rodinia split into two halves (see map), but by
the end of the Precambrian it again formed a
single continent called Pannotia.
PRECAMBRIAN LIFE
The first living cells were microscopic organisms
possibly living in hot springs. By about 3,500mya,
photosynthesizing algae may have formed layered
structures called stromatolites. As oxygen built up
in the atmosphere, multicellular animals evolved.
Stromatolites First animals

These layered silica or Late in the Precambrian, the first
limestone structures were true animals and plants appeared.
created by colony-forming Spriggina (above) was a strange,
algae and provide evidence long, tapering animal, with
of early life. Collenia (left) was a V-shaped segments running
type of Precambrian stromatolite. along the length of its body.
Filter feeder
The feather-shaped fossil of
Charniodiscus is thought to
represent an early filter-feeding
animal that lived on the sea
floor late in the Precambrian.
2,000mya 1,000mya 500mya 250mya 0

22 | Introduction
CAMBRIAN PERIOD
542–485 MILLION YEARS AGO
THE BEGINNING of the Cambrian Period probably helped by the relatively warm
marks the start of the Phanerozoic Era, climate. Rapid continental movements
known as the “Era of Abundant Life”. The led to high sea levels and large expanses
Cambrian is remarkable for the amazing of shallow-water environments covered
increase in the number of marine animals large parts of the continents. These
and plants. However, the land remained shallow seas were warm worldwide as
barren. The evolutionary spurt was there were no ice caps at either pole.
Burgess Shale
A huge variety of fossil animals,
called the Burgess Shale fauna,
have been found in shale rocks
of the Cambrian Period in British
Columbia, Canada. About 180
species of invertebrates have
been discovered there. Chordates
(creatures with a primitive
backbone called a notochord),
such as Pikaia (right), are also notochord
preserved in the Burgess Shale. (primitive backbone)
4,600mya 4,000mya 3,000mya

Cambrian Period | 23
CAMBRIAN LANDMASSES
Continental drift was remarkably rapid during
the Cambrian. The supercontinent Pannotia
broke up, and the continents moved apart
(see map). This caused a rise in sea levels. By
500mya, the continents of Laurentia, Baltica, and
LAURENTIA SIBERIA
N
Siberia were lined up along the Equator, with the
EA
A
GO OC supercontinent Gondwana (present-day South
AN
N T US W
DW I A PE ND America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and Asia)
AN GO
A BALTICA
extending into temperate regions.
CAMBRIAN LIFE
Almost all of the present-day major groupings
of animals started to appear during this almost
60 million-year period, including worms, crabs,
shellfish, and sponges. Many of the new animals
had a hard external skeleton. This provided
protection within which multicellular organisms
could grow.
Arthropods
This group of early animals were remarkable for
being the first organisms with eyes – compound
eyes rather like those of insects. Xystridura (left),
like other arthropods, lived on the sea bed, and
had a skeleton composed of a head shield, a
jointed thorax, and a tail shield.
jointed bony
thorax with many small
many legs protective
plates
Wiwaxia
Many mollusc- and worm-like
animals evolved. Wiwaxia (right), a
mollusc-like creature covered with
hard spines, lived on the ocean floor.
2,000mya 1,000mya 500mya 250mya 0

24 | Introduction
ORDOVICIAN PERIOD
THE ORDOVICIAN PERIOD saw the first were mainly tear-drop-shaped animals
movement of life from the oceans onto covered in bony plates. Towards the end
the land. Before about 450mya, the land of the Ordovician, two extinction events
was barren apart from mats of algae close occurred about a million years apart.
to shores. After this time, early forms of The first of these was caused by global
liverwort-type plants evolved, possibly warming, which resulted in the retreat
from larger algae. They quickly colonized of glaciers. Warm-water coral reefs died
boggy regions and areas around lakes out, and three-quarters of all marine
and ponds. In the oceans, the earliest species became extinct within less than
jawless fish (agnathans) appeared, which a million years.
Brachiopods
Mainly living attached to reefs,
these were the most abundant
two-shelled organisms in the
oceans. Strophomena (left) was
a medium-sized brachiopod.
4,600mya 4,000mya 3,000mya

Ordovician Period | 25
ORDOVICIAN LANDMASSES
At the beginning of the Ordovician Period,
the supercontinent Gondwana still lay in the
southern hemisphere. The other continents
SIBERIA
were spread out along the Equator and were
LAURENTIA
E AN gradually pushed apart by the expansion
US O C
IAPE T of the Iapetus Ocean (see map). Later in
the Ordovician Period, the movement of
A
GO BALTICA
N
A
ND W
WA ND Gondwana towards the South Pole triggered
N GO
A another extinction event. By 440mya, present-
day North Africa lay over the South Pole.
ORDOVICIAN LIFE
The warm equatorial seas that existed for much of the Ordovician were
ideal for the evolution of marine life. Coral reefs appeared, and soon
spread widely. The oceans were also filled with jellyfish, sea anemones,
and other colony-forming organisms. A variety of shelled animals, such
as brachiopods, lived on sea beds around the reefs.
fan-like colonies
held in branching,
tube-like structures
segmented body
Graptolites
Graptolites, such as Rhabdinopora
(above), were unusual colony-
forming organisms that floated
through the water feeding through
minute tentacles.
Nautiloids
Primitive shelled cephalopods
(a group that includes modern Trilobites
cuttlefish) called nautiloids The new coral reefs were an
were abundant. Many, such as ideal habitat for trilobites.
Estonioceras (left), were coiled. Sphaerexochus (above) was a
They moved by squirting water typical Ordovician trilobite,
out of a tube in their body cavity. with a body of 11 segments.
2,000mya 1,000mya 500mya 250mya 0

26 | Introduction
SILURIAN PERIOD
BEFORE THE SILURIAN PERIOD, the land primitive antecedants. As areas around
had been largely barren apart from some water began to be covered by vegetation,
mossy growth and liverworts close to soil built up, and water became trapped
water. The landscape was transformed in the land. These conditions allowed
by the appearance of the first true land the first advances of animal life onto the
plants. These were primitive and simple, land. By the end of the Silurian, there
but had branching stems, roots, and tubes were many land arthropods, including
for water transport. Such plants were able primitive centipedes, and spider- and
to grow to larger sizes than their more scorpion-like arachnids.
SILURIAN LIFE
After the mass extinctions at the
end of the Ordovician, evolution
progressed at a rapid rate. The
earliest true jawed fish appeared,
including early members of the
cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes)
and bony fishes (Osteichthyes). Many
new aquatic invertebrates, such as
sea urchins also appeared. Trilobites
and molluscs increased in diversity.
12 plated
tail segments
small eye
large eye
large,
powerful claw
Sea scorpion
The largest Silurian marine invertebrates were the sea scorpions
(eurypterids), such as Pterygotus (above). In some cases longer than a
man, these were the dominant hunters of the early seas, and a few may
have been able to crawl ashore. Eurypterids were cousins of horseshoe
crabs and arachnids, but are not directly related to scorpions.
4,600mya 4,000mya 3,000mya

Silurian Period | 27
SILURIAN LANDMASSES
The second Ordovician extinction event led to
rising sea levels and flooding of some low-lying
SIBERIA areas. The climate became warmer and less
seasonal. The supercontinent Gondwana was
still lying over the South Pole, with Laurentia
sitting astride the Equator (see map). The
LAURENTIA BALTICA
collision of smaller landmasses formed new
A
mountain ranges. By the end of the Silurian, all of
AN
W
D the landmasses were grouped closely together.
N
GO
freely moving arms
characteristic Y-shaped
branching stems
Early plants
The earliest plants, such as
Cooksonia (left), had a simple
branching form. They had
water-conducting vessels,
and reinforced stems.
Crinoids
Birkenia Despite their plant-like
Despite the evolution of appearance, crinoids (sea lilies)
the jawed fish, jawless fish were animals related to starfish
(agnathans) were still thriving. and sea urchins. Many species
Birkenia (right) was a freshwater populated Silurian seabeds.
fish that probably fed on the Sagenocrinites (above) was a
algae that it strained out of small one, with a very compact
muddy lake- and riverbeds. head and many slender tentacles.
2,000mya 1,000mya 500mya 250mya 0

28 | Introduction
DEVONIAN PERIOD
DURING THE DEVONIAN green plants rain. Sea-levels fell worldwide,

of increasing size started to spread across and large deserts formed. A wide
the landscape. Later in the period, some variety of fish evolved – the Devonian
plants evolved woody tissue and the is often called “the Age of Fish”.
first trees appeared. Towards the end Swampy deltas and river estuaries
of the Devonian, the climate became provided an important habitat
much warmer. Droughts were common for the emergence of animal life
and alternated with periods of heavy onto land.
Prototaxites
Although they looked like tree trunks,
Prototaxites (right) were actually a type
of fungus. Growing up to 8m (26ft) tall,
they were the largest organisms on
land during the Devonian.
Life on land
About 370mya, the first
four-legged vertebrates,
such as Acanthostega
(right), ventured out of the
water onto the land. They
evolved from one of the
groups of lobe-finned fish,
whose living relatives are
lungfish. The paired fleshy
fins of these fish evolved sharp teeth suggest
into limbs. a diet of fish
4,600mya 4,000mya 3,000mya

Devonian Period | 29
DEVONIAN LANDMASSES
At the start of the Devonian the northern
landmasses formed one large supercontinent
called Laurasia, separated from Gondwana by
the Tethys Sea (see map). Huge mountain ranges
A formed in the future eastern North America and
SE
LAURASIA YS western Europe. By the mid Devonian, Gondwana
TH
TE and most of Laurasia had moved south of the
Equator. The lands that would become China
and Siberia were north of the Equator.
GONDWANA
DEVONIAN LIFE body

The most important evolutionary step during the Devonian was armour
the development of four-limbed land animals. Arthropods also
moved onto the land and the first insects appeared. The oceans
teemed with armoured jawless fish and the more modern jawed
fish. Sharks and ammonoids (a group of molluscs) were common.
pointed
Lungfish fins
Lungfish, such as Dipterus
(right) have primitive Placoderms
lungs as well as gills, and Abundant in Devonian seas,
survive during seasons placoderms were jawed fish.
of drought by breathing Towards the end of the
air in watertight burrows Devonian some of these
in the mud. creatures reached 8m (26ft) in
length. Eastmanosteus (above),
although less than 2m (61 ⁄ 2ft)
long, was a fearsome hunter.
dorsal fin
Early sharks
The seas of the Late Devonian
teemed with squid, small fish,
and crustaceans, which were
ideal prey for early sharks such
as Cladoselache (left). This shark
did not have scales on its body.
2,000mya 1,000mya 500mya 250mya 0

30 | Introduction
CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD
THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD opened giant ones. In the warm, moist climate,
with tropical conditions over much of the huge forests of giant tree ferns flourished,
Earth. There were large coastal seas and producing an oxygen-rich environment.
vast swamps covering the coastal plains. There were also giant horsetails,
Insects and amphibians found the swamps clubmosses, and seed-bearing plants.
an ideal environment. Early amphibians Large amounts of decaying vegetation
looked rather like salamanders, but they led to the build up of thick layers of peat,
soon evolved into many forms, including which would later become coal deposits.
CARBONIFEROUS LIFE
There were many types of amphibian
tetrapods, ranging from newt-like animals
to those the size of crocodiles. By the late
Carboniferous, the first reptiles appeared,
with the evolution of a shelled egg. The early
reptiles were small, but they spread rapidly
on land, moving into drier, upland areas.
diamond-shaped Trees
leaf bosses Huge forests of woody trees,
such as Lepidodendron (a
specimen of fossilized bark is
shown left), spread worldwide.
This giant clubmoss had
a column-like trunk with
skeletal, spreading branches
and could grow to heights
of 35m (115ft), with a trunk
diameter of over 2m (61 ⁄ 2ft).
small, slim, yet

sturdy body
First reptile?
When first discovered,
Westlothiana lizziae (right)
was hailed as the first real
reptile. It is now regarded Insects and arthropods
as reptile-like rather than Already populous by the
a true reptile. Westlothiana Carboniferous, insects and
has features that indicate arthropods continued to
an evolutionary position diversify. Graephonus (above)
between primitive tetrapods was a whip scorpion, with
and true reptiles. six legs and a pair of pincers.
4,600mya 4,000mya 3,000mya

Carboniferous Period | 31
CARBONIFEROUS LANDMASSES
At the beginning of the Carboniferous, most
of the Earth’s landmasses were arranged in
two great supercontinents: Laurasia in the
north and Gondwana in the south (see map).
LAURASIA Later in the Carboniferous they moved closer
together. Gondwana started to move over
the South Pole again. The advance and retreat
GONDWANA of the ensuing icesheets led to at least two
ice ages in the last half of the Carboniferous.
Life in a swamp
The spread of the forests raised oxygen levels
around the world, and this factor, combined with the
increasingly humid conditions, may have allowed
the evolution of very large amphibians and insects.
Crocodile-like amphibians, such as Eryops, hunted at
the bottom of the swamps. The largest Carboniferous
dragonflies had wingspans of up to 75cm (21 ⁄ 2ft), and
some early scorpions were more than 60cm (2ft) long.
early reptiles, such as Hylonomus

migrated to drier areas
the dragonfly Eryops, a large,

Meganeura, one of the amphibian
largest flying insects aquatic hunter
2,000mya 1,000mya 500mya 250mya 0

32 | Introduction
PERMIAN PERIOD
THE PERMIAN was a time of dramatic the fewer damp areas and many species
climatic changes. At the start of the became extinct. This provided the
Permian, Gondwana was still in the grip opportunity for reptiles to spread
of an ice age. It gradually warmed over more widely and diversify. Continental
the next few million years, as it moved upheavals and further extreme climate
northwards. Large parts of Laurasia changes at the end of the Permian led
became very hot and dry, and massive to the largest mass extinction event
expanses of desert formed. This had ever. More than half of
a damaging effect on amphibian all animal families
populations: they were confined to became extinct.
PERMIAN LIFE
Reptiles continued to
spread rapidly. Among
the dominant land animals
of the time were the synapsids
(mammal-like reptiles). By the mid
Permian, these had diversified into
the therapsids. Later in the period, a
mammal-like group of therapsids called
the cynodonts (“dog teeth”) evolved.
bony spike
Pareiasaurs
These were large,
primitive, herbivorous
reptiles. Elginia (a fossil
skull is shown left) was
one of the smaller
pareiasaurs and one of
the last of the group.
broad vertebrae
at base of spine
Early parareptile
Procolophon (right) was a member
of the Parareptilia – a clade of reptiles. ribs enclosing
It may have eaten insects. Later rounded body
members of its family were larger, and
had teeth designed for eating plants.
4,600mya 4,000mya 3,000mya

Permian Period | 33
PERMIAN LANDMASSES
Throughout the Permian Period, Laurasia in the
north and Gondwana in the south continued
to move closer together (see map). By the end
of the period, they collided to form the giant
L AUR A SIA A supercontinent of Pangaea. This straddled the
SE
H YS Equator, and was bounded to the east by the
T ET
GO shallow Tethys sea. Many shallow coastal seas
ND
WA disappeared, inland desert areas became much
N A
larger, and sea levels fell worldwide.
Synapsids
One of the best-known of this
group of early Permian predators,
Dimetrodon (left) had a distinctive
sail on its back, which was
supported by bony rods. This is
thought to have been for heat
exchange or sexual display.
large, sharp
teeth indicate
carnivorous
lifestyle
2,000mya 1,000mya 500mya 250mya 0

MESOZOIC ERA
AGE OF THE DINOSAURS
The Mesozoic Era lasted nearly 180 million
years, and comprised three periods: the
Triassic, Jurassic, and the Cretaceous. During
the Triassic, the world’s climate grew steadily
hotter and drier, and the first dinosaurs and
mammals appeared.
During the Jurassic, lush forests spread over

much of the world and dinosaurs and pterosaurs
(flying reptiles) flourished. This was the time
of the largest land animals ever to have existed –
the giant sauropods. The first birds appeared and
new groups of mammals evolved.
The climate grew cooler again in the Cretaceous,

and the first flowering plants appeared early in
the period. Placental mammals evolved and
birds diversified. At the end of the Mesozoic,
the end-Cretaceous mass extinction event
saw the disappearance of the dinosaurs.
36 | Mesozoic Era
TRIASSIC PERIOD
AFTER THE MASS extinctions at the end subject to alternating seasons of heavy
of the Permian, the oceans and land were monsoonal rains and drought. The
left startlingly empty of life. It took about climate was generally warm, and there
10 million years for the Earth’s ecosystems were no polar ice caps. These conditions
to recover. During the Triassic, the favoured certain types of plants, such as
surviving reptile groups spread widely and seed ferns and conifers, which could cope
the first true dinosaurs appeared. A large with arid conditions, and horsetails in
area of the world’s landmasses lay in the damper areas. The climate grew even
equatorial belt, and interior regions were drier at the end of the Triassic.
TRIASSIC LIFE
Most of the synapsids, which had dominated
the land in Permian times, did not survive into the
Triassic. The surviving groups radiated again, but
lost a number of their ecological niches to new
reptile groups – the archosaurs (“ruling reptiles”)
and the rhynchosaurs (a short-lived group of
diapsid reptiles). Several lines of aquatic reptiles
saurischian
also evolved. These were the nothosaurs, (“lizard-hipped”)
placodonts, and ichthyosaurs. The Late Triassic pelvic structure
saw the arrival of the dinosaurs, crocodilians,
pterosaurs, turtles, and primitive mammals.
First dinosaurs
long toe
Cynodonts The earliest dinosaurs evolved
bones
The cynodonts (dog-like about 230mya. Herrerasaurus
mammal ancestors) were a group (right) and Eoraptor, both found
that survived into the Triassic. in Argentina, are thought to be
Cynognathus (above) was a large among the earliest dinosaurs. Both
Triassic carnivorous cynodont. of them were agile bipedal hunters.
4,600mya 4,000mya 3,000mya

Triassic Period | 37
TRIASSIC LANDMASSES
The supercontinent Pangaea reached its
maximum state of fusion in the mid Triassic
about 230mya. Parts of present-day Asia may
have formed islands, but most of the landmasses
TETHYS SEA
of the Earth were in contact. Pangaea straddled
the Equator, reaching from pole to pole. The
temperature gradient between the Equator
PANGAEA and the poles was far less extreme than it is in
modern times, and there were no polar ice caps.
Flying reptiles
The earliest known flying reptiles
are pterosaurs, found in Late Triassic
deposits. They were accomplished
flyers with wings made of skin
attached to an elongated fourth finger.
Peteinosaurus (above) was an early
pterosaur (a primitive form) with a
short neck, and a long bony tail.
Triassic vegetation
Many plants of the Palaeozoic Era opposing
relied on high rainfall and damp pairs of
leaflets
conditions. Dicroidium (right) was a
seed fern the size of a small tree. It
thrived in swampy areas of the Triassic
southern hemisphere. In many areas,
however, such tropical vegetation
was gradually replaced by plants, such
as cycads, ginkgos, and evergreen “Y”-forked leaf
trees, which were better suited to
the prevailing arid conditions.
2,000mya 1,000mya 500mya 250mya 0

38 | Triassic Period
DIAPSIDS
AFTER THE end-Permian extinction, appeared. The most successful Triassic
surviving diapsids slowly recovered and diapsids were the archosauromorphs,
began to occupy some of the ecological including pseudosuchians and dinosaurs,
roles previously filled by synapsids. alongside some groups with no modern
Most major diapsid groups had descendants, such as pterosaurs,
originated prior to the extinction, but in phytosaurs, and rhynchosaurs.
the Triassic they underwent significant Pterosaurs, the first vertebrates to
radiations. Early in the Triassic, some evolve powered flight, took to the skies
diapsids returned to the sea, leading to the early in the Triassic. Pseudosuchians, the
ichythyosaur and sauropterygian lineages, broad group that gave rise to modern
but the origins of these groups are still a crocodiles, were the dominant terrestrial
mystery. Placodonts were among the animals for most of the Triassic, and they
successful colonizers of the oceans, but developed a staggering diversity that
they would not survive the Triassic–Jurassic included top carnivores, lumbering
extinction. They developed turtle-like herbivores, and agile bipeds. For reasons
shells to protect them from the still unclear, however, they were slowly
carnivorous sauropterygians, but they displaced by dinosaurs towards the end
were only distantly related to turtles. of the Triassic. The first dinosaurs were
Lepidosaurs diversified, too, and early small carnivores, but by the end of the
in the Triassic the first squamates (the Triassic there were also large herbivorous
group to which lizards and snakes belong) sauropodomorphs, such as Plateosaurus.
Group: SAUROPTERYGIA Subgroup: Placodontia Time: 237–227mya
Henodus shell formed of

irregular bony
HEN-OH-DUS plates and horn
Henodus (“single-tooth”) was an armoured placodont

shaped rather like a modern turtle. It was as wide as
it was long, and its back and belly were protected by
bony, many-sided plates that made up a defensive
shell. This in turn was completely covered with plates
of tough horn. Henodus lived in near-shore marine
environments. It had a strangely square snout and
one tooth per side of the mouth. It also had a horny
beak at the front of the mouth, similar to that of
modern turtles. Henodus scraped plants off the
bottom using suction and filter feeding. Its short,
clawed feet may have been webbed.
horny beak at
front of mouth short,
clawed feet
DESCRIBED BY
Huene 1936
HABITAT
Lagoons
Length: 1m (3¼ft) Weight: Not calculated Diet: Herbivore or filter feeder

Diapsids | 39
Placodus flat
teeth
PLAK-OH-DUS
This placodont shows few adaptations for an aquatic
lifestyle, with a stocky body, short neck, and sprawling
limbs. However, there were webs of skin between the
toes and the tail was flattened from side to side. There
may also have been a fin on the tail. Placodus (“flat
tooth”) had forward-pointing teeth used to pluck Lower jaw Upper jaw
shellfish off rocks. Flat teeth on the palate
met other teeth on the lower jaw to
produce an efficient crushing action.
DESCRIBED BY Agassiz 1843
HABITAT Seashores
sprawling,
five-toed
feet
belly ribs formed

protective shell
Length: 2m (61⁄2ft) Weight: Not calculated Diet: Shellfish, crustaceans
Psephoderma webbed foot formed

an efficient paddle
SEF-OH-DER-MAH
This relatively well-known
placodont was remarkably
turtle-like in appearance. Its body
was broad and flat and covered with
turtle-like
hexagonal plates. Its limbs were horny beak
paddle-shaped. Psephoderma
(“pebble skin”) had great biting
power – a horny beak at the front
of its mouth could pluck shellfish,
which were then crushed by its
teeth and jaws.
DESCRIBED BY von Meyer 1858 shell covered in
HABITAT Shallow seas many-sided plates
Length: 1.8m (6ft) Weight: Not calculated Diet: Shellfish, crustaceans

Group: SAUROPTERYGIA Subgroup: Nothosauria Time: 242mya
Ceresiosaurus
SER-EE-SEE-OH-SAW-RUS flattened,
high tail
Ceresiosaurus (“lizard of Lugano”) had toes that were much longer
than those of other nothosaurs due to hyperphalangy (an increased
number of bones in each toe). The length of its feet, which may have
been webbed, meant that efficient swimming flippers were formed.
The forelegs were longer than the hind legs, suggesting that they were the
ones used most for steering. Ceresiosaurus swam using a combination
of its large front flippers for propulsion and undulation of the body.
DESCRIBED BY Peyer 1931
long, flexible neck
HABITAT Shallow seas
streamlined
body
nostrils longer front

very high legs than hind
on head
Length: 3m (10ft) Weight: ~90kg (200lb) Diet: Fish
Group: SAUROPTERYGIA Subgroup: Nothosauria Time: 247–237mya
Lariosaurus
LA-REE-OH-SAW-RUS
Lariosaurus was a small member of the nothosaur group of
marine reptiles. It had primitive adaptations to an aquatic
lifestyle. Its neck and toes were very short, and the webs of
skin on its hindfeet would have been small, and therefore
not much use for fast swimming. Its front feet formed
paddle-like flippers. In common with other members
of its group, it had flexible knee and ankle joints. Fossil
embryos preserved with an adult Lariosaurus
show that it gave birth to live young,
an adaptation that would have
allowed it to reproduce
without returning to land.
DESCRIBED BY
Curioni 1847
HABITAT
Coastal shallows
Length: 60cm (24in) Weight: ~10kg (22lb) Diet: Small fish, shrimp
Diapsids | 41
Group: SAUROPTERYGIA Subgroup: Nothosauria Time: 240–210mya
Nothosaurus
NOH-THO-SAW-RUS
Nothosaurus (“false lizard”) was a typical nothosaur. Its long
body, neck, and tail were flexible and moderately streamlined.
Some fossils have impressions of webbed skin between
the five toes of the feet. The head was slim, and the jaws long,
contained many sharp, thin teeth that interlocked pointed teeth long, thin tail
when the mouth was closed. The nostrils
were placed high on the head,
close to the eyes. long,
streamlined
DESCRIBED BY body
Münster 1834
HABITAT
Coastal regions
flexible
knee and
relatively ankle joints
long neck
webbed webbed fingers formed

five-toed feet primitive paddles
Length: 3m (9¾ft) Weight: ~80kg (176lb) Diet: Fish, shrimp
long, not very

streamlined body
relatively long,
flexible tail
primitive five slightly

paddle-like webbed toes
flipper with claws
Group: ICHTHYOPTERYGIA Subgroup: Ichthyosauria Time: 247–242mya
Mixosaurus rudimentary
MIX-OH-SAW-RUS tail fin
small dorsal fin
This “mixed reptile” is thought to have been an intermediate
form between primitive ichthyosaurs and more advanced short hind
types. It had a fish-like body, typical of advanced ichthyosaurs, flippers
with a dorsal fin on its back. However, it only had a small fin
on the top of its tail. Its paddles were short, with the front
pair longer than the hind ones.
DESCRIBED BY Baur 1887 long, narrow
jaws with
HABITAT Oceans sharp teeth
Length: 1m (3¼ft) Weight: Not calculated Diet: Fish
Group: ICHTHYOPTERYGIA Subgroup: Ichthyosauria Time: 237–210mya
Shonisaurus
SHON-EE-SAW-RUS
Shonisaurus (“Shoshone mountain reptile”) is
the largest ichthyosaur known. It had the typical
ichthyosaur shape, with its head and neck, body, and
tail making up equal thirds of its length. However, it
had several features that indicate that it was an offshoot
from the main ichthyosaur line. Its jaws were very long,
and had teeth only at the front. Its paddles were also
unusually long, and of equal length.
DESCRIBED BY Camp 1976

HABITAT Oceans large eyes
thin, sharp,
pointed teeth
rudimentary
tail fin
elongated jaws
unusually
front paddles same long, thin
length as hind pair paddles
Length: 21m (69ft) Weight: ~20.3–35.5 tonnes (20–35 tons) Diet: Fish, squid, other cephalopods
Diapsids | 43
Group: DIAPSIDA Subgroup: Tanystropheidae Time: 230mya
Tanystropheus
TAN-EE-STRO-FEE-US
This reptile is one of the strangest to have ever existed.
Its incredibly long neck was composed of only 13
vertebrae, which were so elongated that they were
first thought to be leg bones. The neck length has
led to much speculation about this animal’s lifestyle, neck made up half
as it was not well-adapted for either walking animal’s length
or swimming. Current opinion is that it
used its neck to fish from sea or lake
shores or from shallow water.
DESCRIBED BY von Meyer 1852

HABITAT Shorelines
slender forelimbs
with small hands
long feet
Fishing grounds
may have
The neck of Tanystropheus was so long
been webbed that it may have been able to fish while
lying on lake or sea shores.
Length: 6m (20ft) Weight: ~150kg (330lb) Diet: Fish
Group: ARCHOSAUROMORPHA Subgroup: Rhynchosauria Time: 230–227mya
Hyperodapedon
HI-PER-OH-DA-PEE-DON
This rhynchosaur was abundant in the Mid Triassic. It had a squat, short,
barrel-shaped body, with a large head and moderately long tail. Its mouth
ended in a beak, used to nip off vegetation, and its teeth were designed
for efficient chopping of tough plant material. It had several rows of teeth
on the upper jaw. A groove ran through the middle row of teeth and, on
the lower jaw, a single row of teeth fitted into it when the mouth was closed.
DESCRIBED BY
Huxley 1859
HABITAT
Woodland
short, stout legs
large body
cavity
relatively small beak at
long tail front of snout
Length: 1.2m (4ft) Weight: ~40kg (88lb) Diet: Seed ferns

Group: ARCHOSAUROMORPHA Subgroup: Archosauriformes Time: 252–247mya
Proterosuchus
PRO-TEH-RO-SU-KUSS
Proterosuchus was one of the earliest known archosaurs. It had
a large, heavy body, and its legs were angled out from the body,
resulting in a sprawling, lizard-like gait. It probably lived a lifestyle
similar to that of crocodiles, spending most of its time hunting
in rivers. Its teeth were sharp and curved backwards, and there large head with
were also primitive teeth on the palate. long snout
Proterosuchus had a pointed, long, heavy tail
downwardly-hooked snout.
DESCRIBED BY
Broom 1903
HABITAT Riverbanks
sprawling,
stout limbs
Length: 2m (6½ft) Weight: Not calculated Diet: Fish, herbivorous dicynodonts
Group: ARCHOSAURIFORMES Subgroup: Pseudosuchia Time: 222–212mya
Parasuchus
PAR-A-SOOK-US
Parasuchus, whose name means “near crocodile”, looked
remarkably like a modern crocodile. Its throat and back
were protected by heavy armoured plates (or scutes),
and the belly was strengthened by a dense arrangement
of abdominal ribs. The skull was long, with a slender
snout. The jaws were lined with conical teeth. Nostrils
positioned on top of the head allowed Parasuchus to
breathe while underwater.
back protected
DESCRIBED BY Lydekker 1885 by heavy scutes nostrils on
HABITAT Riverbanks and marshy areas
top of snout
Length: 2.5m (8¼ft) Weight: Not calculated Diet: Fish

Diapsids | 45
Stagonolepis
STAG-ON-OH-LEP-IS
Like other members of its family, Stagonolepis
was herbivorous and had a deep, low-slung body
adapted to accommodate the longer intestines
needed for digesting plants. It was heavily armoured,
with rectangular plates covering the whole of the back
and tail. A row of short spikes ran along each side of
the animal, and the underside of the belly and tail was
covered with more bony plates.
rectangular plates
DESCRIBED BY of bony armour
Agassiz 1844
HABITAT Forests
peg-like
five-toed feet teeth at
back of jaw
Length: 2.5m (8¼ft) Weight: ~200kg (440lb) Diet: Plants
Desmatosuchus
DES-MAT-OH-SOOK-US
Desmatosuchus (“link crocodile”) was a particularly
heavily armoured animal, which superficially
resembled a short-snouted crocodile. Rows of
rectangular plates covered its back and tail, and a
row of short spikes ran along the flanks. Long spikes
jutted out from each shoulder. The underside of the
belly was also covered in bony plates. The body was
long and deep, with relatively short legs. The cheek
teeth were weak and peg-like.
DESCRIBED BY Case 1920
HABITAT Forests
rectangular bony
plates along back
toothless snout and tail
shoulder spikes up
to 45cm (18in) long
Length: 5m (16ft) Weight: ~300kg (660lb) Diet: Plants

Another random document with
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imagination is displayed with a power and amplitude that have
elsewhere never been surpassed in etching or engraving, and only
rarely in other forms of pictorial art. Although scarcely known to the
public at large, they have always formed the delight of those who
feel the appeal of imaginative fantasy, and notably of Coleridge and
of De Quincey, who has recorded his impression in golden words.
They are reputed to represent scenes which burned themselves into
the artist’s consciousness while delirious with fever, and it is certain
that they do possess that terrible, vivid reality, so enormously
amplified as to lose the proportions of ordinary existence, which
characterizes all oppressive dreams and particularly those induced
by narcotics. They represent interiors of vast and fantastic
architecture, complete yet unfinished, composed of an inexplicable
complexity of enormous arches springing from massive piers built,
like the arches they carry, of gigantic blocks left rough-hewn. By a
contrast that could only have been conceived by genius these
monstrous spaces are traversed in every direction by frail
scaffoldings, together with ladders, bridges, and all manner of works
in wood; and are filled, at the same time, with an inexhaustible
succession of ropes, pulleys, and engines, finely described by De
Quincey as “expressive of enormous power put forth or of resistance
overcome.” They are distinguished by one of Piranesi’s greatest
qualities, the power to express immensity as, perhaps, no one else
has ever done, and are flooded with light which seems intense in its
opposition to the brilliant shadows, so that altogether it would be
difficult to understand their title of “Prisons,” were it not for the
presence of engines of torment, and of mighty chains that twine over
and depend from huge beams, or sometimes bind fast the little
bodies of human beings. The unusual and inexplicable nature of
these “Prisons” gives to the beholder’s imagination a mighty stimulus
productive of strange excitement.
Piranesi. The Prisons. Plate V
Size of the original etching, 21¼ × 16¼ inches
Piranesi. The Prisons. Plate VI
Size of the original etching, 21¼ × 15¾ inches
The “English Opium-Eater” in likening his visions to these pictures,—
and what higher praise of their imaginative force could there be?—
speaks of their “power of endless growth and self-reproduction.” One
of their distinguishing peculiarities is this repetition of parts, as of
things which grow out of themselves unceasingly, reproducing their
parts until the brain reels at the idea of their endlessness. This
characteristic, together with that curious opposition between their air
of open immensity and their suggestion of prison-horror, gives them
that particular appearance of absolute reality in the midst of
impossibility, which is a distinctive feature of dreams. In this way they
arouse a sense of infinitude in the mind of the beholder; now,
although size is in itself of no importance, it is nevertheless true that,
when combined with other qualities of value, “greatness of
dimension is a powerful cause of the sublime.” This greatness, both
in conception and in material execution, they possess, together with
that opposition of light to obscurity which “seems in general to be
necessary to make anything very terrible.” Indeed, that these
etchings reveal a more imaginative vigor arouse a kind of awe in any
one who gives them more than a passing glance, while the horror
which they suggest is never physical so as to nauseate or “press too
nearly” and cause pain, but imparts, on the contrary, a sense of
danger and of terror that causes a delightful excitement, certainly
fulfilling the definition of the sublime as given by Burke.
Although it does not follow that Piranesi is a greater etcher than
Rembrandt, it may still be true that these etchings reveal a more
imaginative vigor than is shown in those of the great Dutchman.
They do not possess that subtle imagination which envelops
everything that Rembrandt ever touched in an air of exquisite
mystery, and gives to his least sketch an inexhaustible fund of
suggestion, nor can they be compared to his etchings as
consummate works of art; yet they do have a titanic, irresistible force
of sheer imagination, which neither Rembrandt nor any other etcher,
however superior in other ways, possessed to the same extent. Their
preëminence in this one point is certainly admissible, and as it has
been shown, presumably, that they are imaginative, original, and
sublime, is it too much to say that, at least in the expression of
certain intellectual qualities, Piranesi in these plates carried the art of
etching to the highest point yet attained, so that no one who does not
know these plates can know quite all that etching is capable of
expressing?
“The Prisons” are also the most notable example of that principle of
opposition, or contrast, of which Piranesi made so masterful a use in
whatever he did. The application of this law in the handling, and at
times in the abuse, of blacks and whites, is, of course, apparent to
even the most casual observer in all that came from his hand. In the
present series, however, this law may be seen carried to its utmost
limit. From every stupendous vault there hangs a long, thin rope,
while up gigantic pillars of rough masonry climb frail ladders of wood,
and great voids between immense piers are spanned by light
bridges, also of wood, bearing the slightest and most open of iron
railings. In his plates of Roman ruins, Piranesi introduces the human
figure dressed in the lovely costume of the eighteenth century, in
order to contrast grace with force, and to oppose the living and the
fugitive to the inanimate and the enduring; but here his use of the
human figure rises to the truly dramatic. In the midst of these vast
and awful halls with their air of stillness and of power, of “resistance
overcome,” he places men who seem the smallest and the frailest
among creatures. Grouped by twos or threes, whether depicted in
violent motion or standing with significant gesture, they are always
enigmatic in their attitudes, so that their presence and obvious
emotion amid this immense and silent grandeur arouse a sense of
tragic action, a feeling of mysterious wonder and curiosity that gives
to all lovers of intellectual excitement a pleasure as keen as unusual.
Particularly in one vision of a monstrous wheel of wood revolving in
space, no one knows how, above a fragment of rocky architecture,
while three human beings engaged in animated converse are
obviously unconscious of the gigantic revolutions, the limits of
fantasy are reached, and the mind turns instinctively to those images
of the spheres rolling eternally in infinite space which are found in
Milton and all mystic poets.
Piranesi. The Prisons. Plate IX
Size of the original etching, 21½ × 16 inches
Piranesi. The Prisons. Plate VII
Size of the original etching, 21⅝ × 16⅛ inches
These plates are also interesting as a striking and curious proof of
Piranesi’s conscious mastery of his art. They are filled with such a
fury of imagination, and are etched with such dash and boldness of
execution that it seems as though they must be, if not, as was once
said, the sane work of a madman, at least burned directly on the
plate by the force of a fever-stricken mind. But not so; they are,
however fevered their original inspiration may have been, the result
of careful elaboration, and are but one more proof of the saying of
that other and still greater etcher, Whistler, that a work of art is
complete, and only complete, when all traces have disappeared of
the means by which it was created. There exists in the British
Museum a unique, and until recently unknown, series of first states
of “The Prisons.” Now, although these first states have the main
outline and, as it were, the germ of the published states, these latter
are so elaborated and, on the whole, improved, as to make it at first
incredible that they could ever have grown out of, or had any relation
to, the earlier states. The idea of vast masses of masonry is there,
thrown on the paper with a simplicity of decorative effect and a
directness of touch which have been lessened in the later work; but,
on the other hand, all those scaffolds, engines of torment, and
groups of men above described, are lacking, so that the power of
contrast and the sense of terror, productive of the sublime, are
entirely wanting, and are, therefore, shown to be the result of
conscious art used by Piranesi in elaboration of an original
inspiration.
Piranesi possessed a style so intensely individual that every print he
produced is recognizable as his by any person who has ever looked
at two or three of his plates with moderate attention, yet this style
never degenerated into manner; that is to say, into an imitation not of
nature, but of the peculiarities of other men or of one’s own earlier
work. It became a manner or process in the hands of his son,
Francesco, but with Giovanni Battista it always remained style, which
is the expression of an original intellect observing nature before
consciously varying the relations of elements drawn by it from
nature, to the end of producing a work of art. This style, whose faults
lie in excessive contrasts of black and white, in inadequate handling
of skies, and, at times, in a certain general hardness of aspect, is
marked by great boldness, breadth, and power, both in conception
and in actual execution, but it is never marred by crudity or
roughness. It is a remarkable fact that the immense force, which first
of all impresses one in Piranesi’s work, does not exclude, but is, on
the contrary, often combined or contrasted with extreme elegance
and fineness of touch. To cite but one instance: in that wonderful
print which forms the title-page of “The Prisons,”—the figure of the
chained man, who imparts such a sense of terror to the whole scene,
is handled with a grace and delicacy worthy of Moreau or any of
those French contemporaries who filled the land with their exquisite
creations for the endless delight of later generations. It is this
contrast, together with his dramatic introduction and grouping of the
human figure, which gives to Piranesi’s style a character that has
been aptly qualified as scenic. An etching by Piranesi produces very
much the same curious effect that a person experiences on entering
a theater after the curtain has risen, so that he receives from the
stage a sudden, sharp impression, not of a passing moment of the
play, but of one distinct, dramatic picture. His etchings are never
theatrical in the sense of something factitious and exaggerated
beyond likeness to nature, but are always truly dramatic.
Piranesi. The Prisons. Plate VIII
Size of the original etching, 21½ × 15¾ inches
Piranesi. The Prisons. Plate XI
Size of the original etching, 16 × 21½ inches
It will have been noticed that plates by Piranesi have been referred
to both as etchings and engravings; this is because he used both
etching and engraving in the same plate, a proceeding which, if
decried by theoretical writers, has none the less been habitually
employed by many of the greatest masters of both means of
expression. Despite his faults and his Latin exuberance, Piranesi is
technically one of the great etchers, in whose hands, particularly in
certain plates in “The Prisons,” the etching-needle attained a breadth
of vigorous execution that no one has surpassed. In judging an artist,
the obvious precept, to consider what he was aiming to do, is
unfortunately too often neglected. To expect of Piranesi either the
incomparable delicacy of Whistler, or the unsurpassed crispness of
Meryon would be futile, but he does possess certain forceful qualities
which are not theirs. When he used the burin, he could handle it with
the greatest precision and skill. In such a plate as the one known as
The French Academy, the building is engraved with a skill not at all
unworthy of the engravers who were at that time doing such
wonderful work in France, while the plate, as a whole, gains a
delightful quality,—that neither pure etching nor pure engraving could
have given,—from the contrast which the sharp and delicately
engraved lines make with the figures that are etched with a
consummate freedom and dash worthy of Callot, who, one cannot
but think, must have influenced Piranesi.
In his valuable monograph on Piranesi, Mr. Arthur Samuel makes the
statement that “architectural etching has culminated with him”; and it
is certain that in this field his work surpasses, both in architectural
correctness and in artistic merit, any that has been done either
before or since his day.
Piranesi. The Prisons. Plate XIII

Size of the original etching, 16 × 21¾ inches
Piranesi. The Prisons. Plate XIV
Size of the original etching, 16⅜ × 21½ inches
Part III
THE INFLUENCE OF PIRANESI ON DECORATION
IN THE XVIII CENTURY
There is still another side of Piranesi’s originality, public ignorance of
which may be said to be complete—namely, his relation to
architecture, and the very great debt owed him by that art. That he
was an architect who signed himself as such on many plates during
his entire life is a fact ignored even by many of those architects who
are most indebted to him; but this fact is negligible, together with the
work which he actually executed as an architect. The benefits which
he conferred were rendered in other ways.
His first, and perhaps greatest, service consisted in the collection of
materials. The classic motives which he gathered and etched form
an inexhaustible store of ornament on which generation after
generation of architects has drawn, and will continue to draw. The
enormous quantity and variety of classic fragments of the best
quality that Piranesi brought together is in itself astounding, but a
fact of still greater importance is that it was he who, more than any
one else, gave these motives currency. In his day no one, except
Winckelmann—now known chiefly by his influence on Goethe, and
by his tragic death—did as much as Piranesi to foster appreciation
and spread knowledge of classic antiquity; while his plates, both by
their greater currency and higher artistic merit, did wider and more
enduring good than could ever be accomplished by the work of a
critic and connoisseur, even of Winckelmann’s talent and prestige.
His boundless enthusiasm and his real learning aroused more
people than we shall ever know, at the same time that his labors, so
indefatigable as to be incredible, spread abroad in prodigal profusion
the reproductions of the remains of classic buildings, statues, and
ornament. The greater part of these relics would have continued, but
for him, to be known to only a few collectors and frequenters of
museums; and it is certain that more classic motives have come into
use, directly or indirectly, from the works of Piranesi than from any
other one source, with the possible exception of modern
photography.
In this connection it is impossible to insist too much on his exquisite
taste, which, although it had its lapses, as in his designs for
chimney-pieces, was on the whole of the highest. This fact seems
quite incredible if the time and place of his life be considered. The
intellectual degradation of all Italy at this period has already been
alluded to, and, art being always a reflection and expression of
contemporary life, it follows that the artistic degradation of Piranesi’s
Italian contemporaries was complete. It is difficult to conceive the
rococo horrors of eighteenth-century Italy. In France the most
contorted productions of the Louis XV style, or the most far-fetched
symbolic lucubrations under Louis XVI, never reached such depths
of bad taste; for the French, in their most unfortunate moments, can
never divest themselves entirely of an innate taste and a sense of
measure which give some redeeming grace to their worst follies. The
lack of tact, of a sense of limitations, which often characterizes
Spanish and Italian art, and at times makes possible splendid flights
never attempted by the French, also permits them, when misguided,
to sink to abysmal depths. It would be hard to find much good in the
heavy contortions of the rococo work of eighteenth-century Italy,
which, starting from Bernini, exaggerated all his faults and kept none
of even his perverted genius. Amid this riot of bad taste, Piranesi,
with his love of classic simplicity, his sense of the noble, and his
feeling for balance and distance, stands out an inexplicable
phenomenon.
In certain plates, Piranesi, while using elements taken from antiquity,
created a style of ornamental composition which inspired or was
copied in work praised for its originality, and passing under the name
of other styles. No one dreams of speaking of a Piranesi style, yet
there is many a piece of decoration that calls itself Louis XVI, or
Adam, or anything else, which comes directly from the work of this
much-pilfered Italian. He stands in relation to a great deal of
architectural decoration much as do, in science, those profound and
creative minds who discover a great principle, but neglect its detailed
application, only to have it taken up by lesser inventors of a practical
trend, who put it to actual uses, the tangible value of which excites
so great an admiration that no thought is taken of the man who
discovered the very principle at the base of it all. In such plates as
those dedicated to Robert Adam and Pope Clement XIII there can be
found, fully developed, the style we call currently Louis XVI, although
the greater part of it was produced under Louis XV
contemporaneously with the work which goes by that name. The
style in question is there, with its exquisite detail copied from the
antique; we can see its inspiration taken from the classic which it
wished to reproduce, together with its fortunate inability to do so, and
its consequently successful creation of something entirely original
but yet filled with classic spirit. That interruption of ornament, that
alternation of the decorated and the plain, that sense of balance and
of contrast, distinctive of the Louis XVI style—all are here. To think
that these qualities came to Piranesi through French influence would
be ridiculous, for the style under discussion obviously took for its
model classic art, to which it was an attempted return; and as
Piranesi was all his life in direct contact with the source of this
inspiration, he could scarcely have been formed by a derivation of
that which he knew directly.
If this be true, it may be asked why Piranesi’s work did not create in
Italy at least sporadic attempts at a style analogous to that of Louis
XVI. The reason for this lies in the already mentioned condition of
the Italy of that day, for a work of art is absolutely conditioned by, and
a result of, the environment in which it occurs. Here and there a work
of art may, by some phenomenon, occur in opposition, or without
apparent relation, to its surroundings; but in such circumstances it
will have no successors, just as an unusually hardy orange-tree may
thrive far to the north, but will not bear fruit and propagate itself. A
great critic has said: “There is a reigning direction, which is that of
the century; those talents who try to grow in an opposite direction
find the issue closed; the pressure of public spirit and of surrounding
manners compresses or turns them aside by imposing on them a
fixed flowering.” The torpor and bad taste engendered in Italy by
political and intellectual oppression precluded the work of Piranesi
from bearing any fruit in his own country.
Statue of Piranesi, by Angelini, assisted by Piranesi’s son,
and erected in the Church of Santa Maria in Aventino
(Rome). It faces the great candelabra which Piranesi had
designed to illuminate his statue. This plate was engraved by
Piranesi’s son, Francesco, in 1790.
Size of the original engraving, 19⅞ × 12¾ inches
Piranesi. Antique Marble Vase
From “Vasi. Candelabri. Cippi. Sarcofagi. Tripodi. Lucerne ed Ornamenti
Antichi Disegn. ed inc. dal Cav. Gio. Batta. Piranesi.” (1778) Vol. II, plate No.
73. Piranesi’s dedication of this plate reads: “Al Suo Carissimo Amico Il. Sig.
Riccardo Hayward Scuttore Inglese.”
Size of the original etching, 24 × 16⅜ inches
To think, on the other hand, that Piranesi exerted an influence on

French art of his day is not so fanciful as might at first be supposed.
If it be true, as just stated, that it is impossible for the work of an
artist to produce any result when his environment is hostile, it is
equally true that an artist, or a body of artists, can exert an enormous
influence when their surroundings favor and the ground is ready to
receive the seed they sow. France was ripe for such seed as
Piranesi cast abroad vainly in Italy, and in the former country an
incalculable influence in the creation of the Louis XVI style was
exerted by those men who accompanied Mme. de Pompadour’s
brother, Abel Poisson, Marquis de Marigny, on his travels in Italy.
Three years previously this great patron of art had caused her
brother to be appointed to the succession of the “Surintendance des
Beaux-Arts,” and after three years of apprenticeship, in order to
make himself worthy of this important and exalted position, she sent
him, in the company of a numerous suite, to Italy in December, 1749,
to complete his education by remaining there until September, 1751.
In his following were Soufflot, the architect, and Charles Nicholas
Cochin fils, the celebrated engraver. On his return from Italy, M. de
Marigny directed all the works of art undertaken by the government
throughout France, while Soufflot built the church of Ste. Geneviève,
now known as the Panthéon, and was one of the most conspicuous
and influential men in the world of art in his day. Cochin, aside from
being a great engraver, was intellectually one of the most interesting
artists of the day, and, as M. de Marigny’s right-hand man, wielded
an influence almost incomprehensible to us of to-day. The latter part
of his life, he really ruled in M. de Marigny’s stead, and his absolute
dictatorship in all matters of art in France can only be compared to
that of Le Brun under Louis XIV.
That his Italian travels were the decisive influence of Cochin’s career
is clearly shown in his own work, and is expressly stated by Diderot,
who says of him that, “judge everywhere else, he was a scholar at
Rome.” Soufflot was only seven years older than Piranesi, and

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Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Life

Dinosaur and Other Prehistoric Creatures Atlas The

Prehistoric Life The Definitive Visual History of Life

Bodies and Mobile Media 1st Edition Richardson

Dinosaurs 1st Edition Lydia Millet

Meet the Small Dinosaurs Rebecca Donnelly

Meet the Giant Dinosaurs Rebecca Donnelly

Dinosaurs in the Summer Joyce Jeffries

Pointed Roofs Dorothy M Richardson

Consultant Dr. Gregory F. Funston

Consultant Dr. David Norman

This edition published in 2021

Copyright © 2003, 2021 Dorling Kindersley Limited

For the curious

This book was made with Forest

Quaternary Period 188

Additional Dinosaurs 200

HOW THIS BOOK WORKS

58 | Mesozoic Era Jurassic Period | 59

JURASSIC PERIOD JURASSIC LANDMASSES a map and introduction

4,600mya 4,000mya 3,000mya 2,000mya

in which the findings were published body balanced

habitat in which saurischian

approximate approximate type of food

▼ Animal profiles COLOUR KEY

time when the animal Ordovician Cretaceous

Dilophosaurus bony, Permian

80 | Jurassic Period Sauropodomorphs | 81

artist’s reconstruction gives an

interpretation is based on what

clades instead of Linnaean ranks when discussing broader groups.

CERATOPSIA (e.g. parrot

GENASAURA (teeth inset in jaw)

Triassic Jurassic Cretaceous Palaeogene Neogene Quaternary

WHAT WERE DINOSAURS?

Upright dinosaur Typical sprawling

DINOSAUR HIPS Saurischian pelvis

phalanges (toe bones)

DINOSAUR AND BIRD EVOLUTION

had special adaptations to the jaw joint that

KEY TO FOSSIL EVIDENCE Massospondylids

Carboniferous Permian Triassic Jurassic

Cretaceous Palaeogene Neogene Quaternary

KEY TO FOSSIL EVIDENCE

For more than a century, palaeontologists

Jurassic Cretaceous Palaeogene Neogene Quaternary

ROCK ENVIRONMENT PERIOD 145–66mya CRETACEOUS

Shale, siltstone, Tidal flat Triassic

Shale Savanna 299–252mya PERMIAN

Mixed strata – shales, Flood plain Permian

Limestone Marine Early

Limestone Marine Devonian 444–419mya SILURIAN

Complex mixed strata Marine and Precambrian

4,600mya 4,000mya 3,000mya

In the Neogene, large expanses of grassland spread, inhabited by grazing mammals

After the end-Cretaceous mass extinctions, mammals evolved into large

The Triassic marked the dawning of the age of dinosaurs.

Synapsids became the dominant land animals during the Permian.

Invertebrate species recovered rapidly during the Silurian Period.

2,000mya 1,000mya 500mya 250mya 0

dinosaur dies near

Fossil of the future?

The fossilization process