Marked by lush greenhouse climates, the breakup of Pangaea, and the evolutionary explosion of sauropods, plated stegosaurs, and apex megalosauroid and allosauroid theropods.
TheropodaAllosaurus fragilis Marsh, 1877
The most abundant apex theropod of Late Jurassic North America, equipped with a kinetic skull and slashing serrated teeth.
SauropodomorphaApatosaurus ajax Marsh, 1877
A colossal, heavily built diplodocid sauropod characterized by thick cervical vertebrae and a whip-like tail.
TheropodaArchaeopteryx lithographica von Meyer, 1861
An iconic stem-avialan from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen limestone exhibiting transitional features bridging non-avian theropods and birds.
SauropodomorphaBarosaurus lentus Marsh, 1890
A massive diplodocid with an extraordinarily long neck and shorter tail than Diplodocus.
Featured SpecimenSauropodomorphaBrachiosaurus altithorax Riggs, 1903
A monumental sauropod with forelimbs longer than hindlimbs, adapted for high-canopy browsing in Late Jurassic North America.
SauropodomorphaBrontosaurus excelsus Marsh, 1879
The iconic 'thunder lizard', resurrected as a valid and distinct genus of diplodocid sauropod in 2015.
SauropodomorphaCamarasaurus supremus Cope, 1877
The most abundant sauropod of Late Jurassic North America, noted for its boxy skull and chisel-like teeth.
TheropodaCeratosaurus nasicornis Marsh, 1884
A distinctive Late Jurassic theropod sporting a prominent nasal horn core and a line of small osteoderms along its back.
SauropodomorphaCetiosaurus oxoniensis Phillips, 1871
The 'whale lizard', the first sauropod dinosaur discovered and named in scientific history.
TheropodaCompsognathus longipes Wagner, 1859
A petite, nimble Late Jurassic coelurosaur about the size of a chicken, historically famous as one of the smallest known dinosaurs.
TheropodaCryolophosaurus ellioti Hammer & Hickerson, 1994
The 'frozen crested lizard', a large Early Jurassic apex theropod discovered high in the Transantarctic Mountains.
SauropodomorphaDicraeosaurus hansemanni Janensch, 1914
A specialized short-necked diplodocoid from Late Jurassic Tanzania bearing tall, bifurcated dorsal spines.
TheropodaDilophosaurus wetherilli Welles, 1954
An apex predator of the Early Jurassic possessing a pair of delicate, semicircular cranial crests along its skull.
SauropodomorphaDiplodocus carnegii Hatcher, 1901
A slender, extremely elongated sauropod of Late Jurassic North America equipped with an 80-vertebra whip-like tail.
OrnithopodaDryosaurus altus Marsh, 1878
A swift, bipedal ornithopod with large eyes and stiffened tail that dashed across Late Jurassic North America.
AnkylosauriaGargoyleosaurus parkpinorum Carpenter et al., 1998
One of the earliest and most complete ankylosaurs known, discovered in the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation.
TheropodaGasosaurus constructus Dong & Tang, 1985
A basal tetanuran carnivore discovered during the construction of a natural gas facility in Sichuan, China.
SauropodomorphaGiraffatitan brancai Janensch, 1914
A towering, high-browsing brachiosaurid sauropod from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru beds of Tanzania.
TheropodaGuanlong wucaii Xu et al., 2006
A feathered, crested early tyrannosauroid from the Late Jurassic of China that lived 90 million years before T. rex.
StegosauriaHesperosaurus mjosi Carpenter et al., 2001
A Late Jurassic stegosaurid from Wyoming featuring wide, oval dorsal plates and a short, deep skull.
StegosauriaHuayangosaurus taibaii Dong et al., 1982
One of the most primitive known stegosaurs, retaining premaxillary teeth and spike-like shoulder armor.
StegosauriaKentrosaurus aethiopicus Hennig, 1915
A spiky East African stegosaur equipped with dermal plates along its neck and long sharp spikes along its back and hips.
SauropodomorphaMamenchisaurus constructus Young, 1954
A magnificent Asian sauropod famous for having one of the longest necks of any animal in natural history.
TheropodaMegalosaurus bucklandii Mantell, 1827
The first scientifically named non-avian dinosaur in history, described from Middle Jurassic rocks of England.
TheropodaMetriacanthosaurus parkeri von Huene, 1932
A medium-to-large European allosauroid theropod characterized by moderately tall vertebral spines.
StegosauriaMiragaia longicollum Mateus et al., 2009
A long-necked European stegosaur from Portugal possessing at least 17 neck vertebrae.
TheropodaMonolophosaurus jiangi Zhao & Currie, 1993
A Middle Jurassic Asian theropod recognized by a prominent single midline ridge along its snout.
SauropodomorphaShunosaurus lii Dong et al., 1983
A Middle Jurassic sauropod from China equipped with a defensive bony club and spikes on the tip of its tail.
TheropodaSinraptor dongi Currie & Zhao, 1993
A large, agile metricanthosaurid theropod that was an apex predator of Late Jurassic China.
Featured SpecimenStegosauriaStegosaurus stenops Marsh, 1887
An iconic armored herbivore of the Late Jurassic with two alternating rows of vertical dorsal plates and a four-spiked tail thagomizer.
TheropodaTorvosaurus tanneri Galton & Jensen, 1979
A gigantic, heavily built megalosaurid macropredator, among the largest terrestrial carnivores of the Jurassic Period.
StegosauriaTuojiangosaurus multispinus Dong et al., 1977
A large, iconic Late Jurassic Chinese stegosaur with tall pointed plates and sharp tail thagomizers.
SauropodomorphaVulcanodon karibaensis Raath, 1972
An archaic Early Jurassic basal sauropod discovered beneath volcanic lava beds in Zimbabwe.
TheropodaYangchuanosaurus shangyouensis Dong et al., 1978
A colossal Chinese allosauroid that was the Asian equivalent of North America's Allosaurus.