PREHISTORIC DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN DINOSAUR
Is it really a dinosaur?
Ancient seas, skies and landscapes were home to many different branches of life.
Ancestry makes the difference
Dinosaurs belong to a particular evolutionary group. A large body, a reptile-like shape or an ancient age does not establish membership. Birds are living dinosaurs; several of the most familiar prehistoric creatures belong elsewhere.
Mosasaurus was a marine squamate. Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus represent other marine reptile lineages. Pteranodon was a pterosaur, Sarcosuchus a crocodile relative, and Dimetrodon a synapsid. Otodus megalodon was a shark. Cameroceras was a cephalopod — an invertebrate.
Our games can bring these animals together for imaginative adventures. The encyclopedia separates that fiction from their evolutionary relationships.
