150 Million Years of Dinosaur Evolution

[A map of the world shows green dots that quickly disappear. There are also circles containing silhouettes of different dinosaurs, which disappear at the same time as the dots. The logo for the American Museum of Natural History appears and then disappears.]

[Text appears: Non-avian dinosaurs including T. rex and Triceratops went extinct 66 million years ago, when an asteroid hit the Earth.]

[A multicolored line appears below the text. The far right of the line is highlighted by a square, and text appears by the square: “66 million years ago”]

[Text replaces the previous text: But dinosaurs arose more than 150 million years before that event. They evolved and changed over time.]

[The square on the timeline moves towards the left, and the numbers tick up until it lands on the far right of the timeline, reading: “230 million years ago.”]

[The text disappears and the timeline moves from the center of the screen to the bottom of the screen, and fades in color. An inset map appears in the center showing a large landmass.]

[Text appears: When dinosaurs first appeared, the continents were assembled together in a supercontinent called Pangaea.]

[The inset map and accompanying text disappear and the modern map of the continents is again visible.]

[Text appears: But here, dinosaurs are shown based on where dinosaur fossils were discovered in the modern era.]

[Above this text, a large purple dot appears next to text: “ [dot] = body fossil (skeleton, bones, teeth, etc)”]

[The main text disappears and the purple dot scales down until it appears on the map, near Nova Scotia, Canada. At the bottom of the screen, the far left segment of the timeline regains its purple color and grows larger, surrounded by a white frame. Text on the timeline box appears: “Late Triassic, 237-201 million years.” More purple dots appear on the map, scattered throughout the continents. A line draws on, pointing from one cluster of purple dots and going down to the Late Triassic segment highlighted on the timeline. Text appears next to the line: “These dots represent every dinosaur body fossil found from the time period highlighted on the timeline.”]

[A new text box appears in the bottom right of the screen, below Africa and Australia. Text appears: “Dinosaurs first appeared on Earth in the Late Triassic, 230 million years ago.” The previous line and text fades.]

[In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “The earliest dinosaurs were mostly small, bipedal, and fast.”]

[In southern South America, larger pink dots appear with silhouettes of slender bipedal dinosaurs next to them. The silhouettes are labelled from top, and going clockwise: Eoraptor, Herrerasaurus, Eodromaeus.]

[In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “Some groups of early dinosaurs and close relatives are not found later in dinosaur evolutionary history”.]

[Scattered throughout the world map, large purple and gold dots appear, showing different Herrerasaurids (early dinosaurs) and Silesaurids (dinosaur relatives).]

[Small orange dots appear on top of the previous small purple dots. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “The pseudosuchians, terrestrial crocodile relatives, were likely hunting early dinosaurs.”]

[Larger orange dots call out several species of pseudosuchians, and their quadrupedal but dinosaur-like silhouettes appear next to these dots. Teratosaurus appears in Europe, Etjosuchus appears in southwestern Africa, Prestosuchus and Saurosuchus appear in lower South America, and Postosuchus appears in the North American west.]

[All the orange dots, small and large, fade. The small purple dots representing Late Triassic dinosaur body fossils still remain. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “Sauropodomorph and theropod dinosaurs are well represented.”]

[In the American West, large yellow dots indicate where fossils of Coelophysis, a theropod dinosaur, have been found. In Europe, large pink dots indicate where fossils of Plateosaurus, a sauropodomorph dinosaur, have been found.]

[In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “But no definite ornithischian fossils have been found at this time. Scientists don’t know why.”]

[Plateosaurus and its associated data points disappear. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “Close relatives of Coelophysis have been found across the globe...”]

[New large yellow dots appear across the world, with the names of different Coelophysis-like dinosaur species. Podokesaurus appears in eastern North America, Procompsognathus appears in Europe, Megapnosaurus appears in southern Africa, and Lucianoventator appears in western South America.]

[The yellow dots and names fade along with all the purple data points, and the highlighted section of the timeline moves to the right and highlights in blue the Early Jurassic (201-174 million years). In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “… and some Coelophysis relatives are found even in the Jurassic.” A yellow dot appears in southeastern Asia with the name Panguraptor next to it.]

[Now, small blue data points representing the dinosaur body fossils found in the Early Jurassic appear throughout the world map. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “At the end of the Triassic (201 million years ago), a mass extinction killed off many other species. But dinosaurs survived and flourished.”]

[Purple dots show off some of the species of Early Jurassic dinosaurs: Dilophosaurus appears in the western United States, Scelidosaurus appears over the United Kingdom, Lufengosaurus appears in southern China, Heterodontosaurus appears in South Africa and Lesotho, and Massospondylus appears in several places in southern Africa.]

[The purple dinosaurs disappear and an inset map shows Antarctica. Two dinosaurs appear here: Cryolophosaurus and Glacialisaurus. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “Even Antarctica, much warmer at the time, was home to dinosaurs.”]

[The inset map disappears, and small orange footprints appear throughout the world on the main world map. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “In addition to fossil bones and teeth, paleontologists have found many fossil footprints. These trace fossils confirm the extensive range of dinosaurs across the planet.”]

[All of the Early Jurassic body fossil data points and footprints disappear from the main world map. New light blue data points appear as the timeline highlight shifts to the right, showing the Middle & Late Jurassic (174 – 143 million years). In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “Many of the best-known dinosaurs appear in the Middle & Late Jurassic.”]

[Pink data points appear in the United Kingdom and in Europe, labelled as Megalosaurus. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “The first dinosaur to receive a scientific name, in 1824, lived at this time.”]

[The pink data points disappear. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “Fossils found in Jurassic-era sites of the western United States include these notable dinosaurs.” A large group of yellow data points appear over the American West. Silhouettes and names of the following dinosaurs appear next to this: Apatosaurus, Allosaurus, Diplodocus, Ceratosaurus, Stegosaurus.]

[In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “And many of these well-known dinosaurs have relatives in the rest of the world.”]

[All of the dinosaur names and silhouettes fade except for Stegosaurus. New yellow dots appear throughout the world. Dacentrurus appears over different areas of Europe, and Adratiklit appears over north Africa. Baiyinosaurus, Gigantspinosaurus, and Chungkingosaurus appear in China, and Kentrosaurus appears in Tanzania.]

[The Stegosaurus silhouette and relatives’ names disappear. Diplodocus reappears in the American West, and names of its relatives appear elsewhere in the world. Brachytrachelopan appears in southern Chile, Dicraeosaurus and Tornieria appear in Tanzania, and Lingwulong appears in China.]

[The Diplodocus silhouette and its relatives’ names disappear. Ceratosaurus reappears in the western United States and the names of its relatives appear elsewhere in the world. Eoabelisaurus appears in southern South America, Elaphrosaurus appears in southeastern Africa, and Limusaurus appears in central Asia.]

[The Ceratosaurus data points fade. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “Birds and their close relatives started to evolve during this time and the first feathers appear in the fossil record.”]

[Purple silhouettes and data points appear for these birds and bird relatives. Archaeopteryx appears near Germany, and Anchiornis, Xiaotingia, and Aurornis appear in China.]

[The light blue data points showing Middle & Late Jurassic dinosaurs fade, and the timeline moves to highlight the next segment to the right: Early Cretaceous (143 – 101 million years). In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “The number and variety of birds really takes off in the Early Cretaceous 143 million years ago.”]

[Small gold dots appear throughout Asia and Europe to show all bird fossils found in the Early Cretaceous. Larger yellow dots highlight individual species. Cratoavis appears in Brazil, Iberomesornis and Eoalulavis appear in far western Europe, and Longipteryx, Yanornis, and Confuciusornis appear in China.]

[The yellow and gold dots fade. Now all the body fossils found in the Early Cretaceous fill the world map, with data points appearing as green dots. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “The types of dinosaurs found overall in the fossil record also changed between the Jurassic and the Cretaceous.”]

[In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “Spinosaurs, early titanosaurs, and ceratopsians became more diverse.”]

[In pink, large dots show different species of spinosaurs. Irritator appears in Brazil, Baryonyx appears in Portugal and western Europe along with Vallibonavenatrix, Suchomimus appears in central Africa, and Ichthyovenator appears near Laos.]

[The spinosaurs and their data points fade. In purple, titanosaurs appear. Text below the label “Titanosaurs” reads: “titanosaurs” = Titanosauriformes. In the American South, Sauroposeidon appears. In southern Argentina, Patagotitan appears. Europatitan appears in Europe, and Mnyamawamtuka appears in southeastern Africa. Ruyangosaurus appears in Asia.]

[The purple titanosaur data points fade. In gold, ceratopsians appear. Aquilops appears in North America, Stenopelix appears in northern Europe, and Psittacosaurus appears throughout east Asia.]

[The gold ceratopsian data points fade. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “The ‘raptor’ dinosaurs, known as dromaeosaurs, also become more diverse during this time period.”]

[Small orange dots show the extensive range of the dromaeosaurs, while large orange dots highlight specific species. Deinonychus appears in North America, Nuthetes appears in Europe, and Microraptor appears in Asia.]

[In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “They include Deinonychus, the inspiration for Jurassic Park’s ‘velociraptors,’ …”]

[On the timeline below, the highlight shifts to the right to show the Late Cretaceous (101 – 66 million years). In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “… but the actual Velociraptor appeared later in the Cretaceous.” Orange dots representing Velociraptor appear in Mongolia.]

[The green dots representing Early Cretaceous body fossils disappear, and are replaced with many more green dots showing the Late Cretaceous dinosaur body fossils. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “In many ways, Cretaceous dinosaurs have come to represent ‘dinosaurs’ in the popular imagination.”]

[In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “The titanosaurs are huge.” In pink, dots appear and show multiple Titanosauriformes. Alamosaurus appears in the American West, Dreadnoughtus and Argentinosaurus appear in Argentina, Angolatitan appears in Angola, Opisthocoelicaudia appears in Mongolia, and Wintonotitan appears in Australia.]

[The titanosaurs disappear and purple data points showing ceratopsians appear. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “The ceratopsians have magnificent horns and crests.” Styracosaurus and Triceratops appear in North America, and Protoceratops and Sinoceratops appear in Asia.]

[The ceratopsians disappear and yellow data points showing the extensive range of hadrosaur species appear. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “Duck-billed hadrosaurs abound.”]

[Larger gold data points appear and show different hadrosaur species. Parasaurolophus and Edmontosaurus appear in North America, Secernosaurus appears in South America, Adynomosaurus appears in Europe, Ajnabia appears in north Africa, and Olorotitan appears in eastern Asia.]

[The hadrosaurs disappear and orange data points appear showing species of predators. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “And the predators are fearsome.” In North America, we see Tyrannosaurus. In South America, we see Carnotaurus. Throughout Africa, Spinosaurus appears, and Rajasaurus appears in India.]

[The predators disappear and slowly all of the green data points showing Late Cretaceous dinosaur body fossils disappear until the map is completely empty. The timeline at the bottom disappears. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “But that all came to an end 66 million years ago. Except… did it?”]

[Slowly, yellow data points that almost completely cover the world map appear. A legend labels the yellow dots as “Cenozoic bird body fossils.” A yellow timeline at the bottom of the screen advances from 66 million years ago to today. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “After the asteroid impact, birds survive, diversify, and flourish.”]

[The yellow data points fade and circles with footage of living birds like vultures, eagles, penguins, woodpeckers, and emus appear. In the text box, the text is replaced with new text: “Today, we are still living in the age of dinosaurs.”]

[Credits roll.

Video

Lee Bucknell

Map/GIS Visualization

Erin Chapman

Data Source

The Paleobiology Database (PBDB)

Scientific Advisor

Roger Benson

Images / Archive

Ming Fearon / AMNH

Alexander D Clark / Han Hu / Roger BJ Benson / Jingmai K O’Connor

iStock / bennymarty, BlackBoxGuild, Dave Hutchison Photography, Harry Collins, hypergon, ibenk.88, Jitender Kumar9, komisar, OceanFishing, Satoru S, SimonSkafar

Leandra Walters / Phil Senter / James H Robins

Wikimedia Commons / Conty, DiBgd, Drbogdan, Durbed, Entelognathus, Gunnar Bivens, Johnny Mingau, Levi Martinez Reza, LiterallyMiguel, NuclearVacuum, NobuTamura, PaleoGeekSquared, PaleoNeolithic, Scott Hartman, Skye David, Slate Weasel, SlvrHwk, Steveoc 86, Total Dino

Zhao Chuang, courtesy of PNSO

Music

“Tiny Miracles” by Brandon Mancuso (GEMA) & Glenn Cartier (GEMA) / Warner/Chappell Production Music