dinosaurs.im
Field notes · Trench 01

Dinosaurs, dug up properly, with the sources showing.

dinosaurs.im is the dinosaur hub of the ReallyByte animals network. Who named what, and when. What the bones actually tell us, and where the experts still argue. Every fact links to its source, and every picture is public domain or CC0.

How long ago?

The word “dinosaur” means “terrible lizard”. Sir Richard Owen coined it in 1842. [source]

Cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex skull, teeth bared
Photo: Gary Todd · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
The Berlin Archaeopteryx fossil in limestone
Photo: Mike Dickison · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Charles R. Knight’s 1897 painting Leaping Laelaps: two dinosaurs fighting, one in mid-leap
Historic art: Charles Robert Knight · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Find of the day · changes at midnight

Find of the day

The network

The dig site

Each dinosaur gets its own site, and its own square on the site plan. None of the dinosaur sites are open yet. Each square below is still being dug, and is clearly marked Coming soon.

SITE PLAN · DINOSAURS.IM · TRENCH 01solid = open · dashed = still diggingA1Tyrannosaurus rexSTILL DIGGINGB1TriceratopsSTILL DIGGINGC1StegosaurusSTILL DIGGINGA2VelociraptorSTILL DIGGINGB2DiplodocusSTILL DIGGINGC2IguanodonSTILL DIGGINGSITE PLAN · TRENCH 01solid = open · dashed = still diggingA1Tyrannosaurus rexSTILL DIGGINGB1TriceratopsSTILL DIGGINGA2StegosaurusSTILL DIGGINGB2VelociraptorSTILL DIGGINGA3DiplodocusSTILL DIGGINGB3IguanodonSTILL DIGGING
Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in the Smithsonian dinosaur hall
Photo: John Gibbons, Smithsonian (shared by USDA) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Coming soon

Tyrannosaurus rex

The tyrant lizard king, named in 1905. Short arms, but unusually powerful ones.

Charles R. Knight painting of a Triceratops on a grassy plain
Historic art: Charles R. Knight · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Coming soon

Triceratops

The three-horned face, first described in 1889, and quite possibly on T. rex’s menu.

Charles R. Knight painting of a Stegosaurus, 1901
Historic art: Charles Robert Knight · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Coming soon

Stegosaurus

Plates along the back, spikes on the tail, and a braincase no bigger than a dog’s.

Mounted Velociraptor skeleton in a museum case in Rome
Photo: Diagram Lajard · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Coming soon

Velociraptor

The swift robber. Feathered, and roughly the size of a turkey, whatever the films say.

Diplodocus skeleton in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin
Photo: Interfase · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Coming soon

Diplodocus

Double beam: a long neck at one end and a whip-like tail at the other.

Gideon Mantell’s 1825 drawing of Iguanodon teeth
Historic art: Gideon Mantell · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Coming soon

Iguanodon

Named in 1825 from a handful of teeth. That famous spike turned out to be a thumb.

The site plan and the cards are built from network.json.

In the finds tray

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Sister hub dinosaurs.im is part of the Animals.im family. For the animals still walking about (owls, sharks, hedgehogs, bees and the rest): Visit Animals.im →