Posts in “Extinct Animals” Category

llustration by Todd Marshall via Science


Meet Raptorex kriegsteini, a new dinosaur species described this week in the journal Science. This "tiny" Tyrannosaurus rex ancestor would still look big to us at nine feet (three meters) tall., but quite small compared to its descendent T. rex. Other than the size difference, the two dinosaurs look remarkably alike, according to Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago and a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence.

This new dino changes the way scientists think about the evolution of T. rex's short arms. Raptorex kriegsteini also had short arms, meaning that T. rex's short arms evolved later than previously believed, according to Thomas Holtz of the University of Maryland (who is not associated with the study).

Learn more about this find on National Geographic News.

Get the facts on Tyrannosaurus rex on National Geographic Kids.

Search for T. rex bones in Zipper's Cave Maze.

Image courtesy Travis R. Tischler, Australian Age of Dinosaurs


"Banjo" is the nickname for the newly-named dinosaur Australovenator wintonensis, a meat-eating, raptor-like dino recently found in Australia. The fossilized remains are one of three new dinosaur species discovered in Winton, a town in the Australian outback.

Learn more about the dig and meet new discoveries "Matilda" and "Clancy" on National Geographic News.

Test your knowledge of dinosaurs in this National Geographic Kids Brainteaser.

Illustration by Jason Bourque


Fossils of Titanoboa cerrejonesis were unearthed in a coal mine in Colombia. Studies show that this snake, which lived 60 million years ago, was the biggest snake ever at 42 feet (13 meters) long and weighed almost a ton at 2,000 pounds (1134 kilograms). "That's longer than a city bus and ... heavier than a car," said lead study author Jason Head, a fossil-snake expert at the University of Toronto Mississauga in Canada and a research associate with the Smithsonian Institution.

Read more about the world's biggest snake on National Geographic News.

The largest living snake is the anaconda. Get more facts in the Creature Feature.

Image courtesy Farish A. Jenkins, Jr./Harvard University


Scientists recently uncovered fossils of an extinct amphibian called Gerrothorax pulcherrimus whose mouth opens sort of like a toilet seat. The jaws of all other vertebrates (animals with a backbone) open wide by hinging down from their skull, while this creature lifted its head up to open its choppers. Gerrothorax lived about 210 million years ago. It lived in warm lakes and ate fish with its toilet seat mouth. It was about three feet (one meter) long and was flat with short limbs.

Farish Jenkins, of Harvard University, said that Gerrothorax was "the ugliest animal in the world."

Read more about this freaky find on National Geographic News.

Read about dino discoveries on National Geographic Kids.

Scientists have uncovered a new dinosaur in Argentina, and it's a big one! The Austroraptor cabazai is the largest raptor ever found in South America and it is among the largest members of the carnivorous raptor family. These raptors grew to be 16.5 to 21 feet long (5 to 6.5 meters).

A raptor this big would certainly have been a fierce predator. Paul Sereno, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago, says that "this was a monster raptor that makes the Velociraptor look like kid's play."

Read more on National Geographic News.

Check out the Velociraptor Creature Feature.



Image courtesy Fernando Novas