List of the prehistoric life of Texas facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This article explores the amazing ancient creatures and plants that once lived in Texas. Scientists have found many fossils here, showing us what life was like millions of years ago. From tiny sea creatures to giant dinosaurs and early mammals, Texas has a rich history of prehistoric life!

Ancient Life in Texas: A Journey Through Time
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Ancient Life in Texas: A Journey Through Time

Texas has a long and fascinating history of life, stretching back hundreds of millions of years. Scientists study fossils found in the state to learn about the different plants and animals that lived here long before humans existed. These fossils help us understand how life on Earth has changed over vast periods of time.

Paleozoic Era: Early Life Forms (541 to 252 Million Years Ago)

During the Paleozoic Era, Texas was often covered by shallow seas. This means many of the fossils from this time are of marine (ocean) creatures. However, as time went on, land animals and plants also started to appear.

One of the earliest periods, the Precambrian (before 541 million years ago), doesn't have many known fossils in Texas. But as we move into the Paleozoic, the fossil record becomes much richer.

Sea Creatures and Early Land Animals

Many ancient sea animals, like those with shells and early fish, lived in the waters covering Texas. Later, during the Permian Period, the land became home to some of the first large animals.

Acheloma: This was an early amphibian, a bit like a giant salamander, that lived in swampy areas.
Dimetrodon: One of the most famous prehistoric animals from Texas, Dimetrodon was a reptile-like creature with a large sail on its back. This sail might have helped it control its body temperature.
Edaphosaurus: Another sail-backed animal, Edaphosaurus was a plant-eater, unlike the meat-eating Dimetrodon.
Eryops: A large, crocodile-like amphibian that spent a lot of its time in water.
Diplocaulus: This amphibian had a very unusual boomerang-shaped head!
Seymouria: An important animal because it had features of both amphibians and reptiles, showing how life was evolving.
Helicoprion: A strange shark relative with a spiral-shaped "tooth whorl" in its jaw.
Cacops: A small, heavily armored amphibian.
Archeria: An early amphibian that lived in the water.
Ophiacodon: A large, early reptile-like animal that was a meat-eater.
Cotylorhynchus: A very large, barrel-bodied reptile-like animal that ate plants.
Captorhinus: A small, lizard-like reptile.
Pantylus: A small, stout reptile.
Platyhystrix: An amphibian with a tall, spiny sail on its back, similar to Dimetrodon.
Psaronius: A type of ancient tree fern that grew very tall, forming forests.
Pecopteris: A common fern-like plant.
Calamites: A giant relative of modern horsetails.

Mesozoic Era: The Age of Dinosaurs (252 to 66 Million Years Ago)

The Mesozoic Era is often called the "Age of Dinosaurs," and Texas was certainly home to many of these magnificent creatures. This era is divided into three periods: the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous.

Triassic Period: The Dawn of Dinosaurs

In the Triassic, early dinosaurs and their relatives began to appear.

Postosuchus: A large, crocodile-like predator that was one of the top hunters before dinosaurs became dominant.
Shuvosaurus: A strange reptile that looked a bit like a dinosaur, but was actually a crocodile relative. It had a beak instead of teeth.
Dromomeron: An early relative of dinosaurs.
Metoposaurus: A large, flat-headed amphibian that lived in rivers and lakes.
Arganodus: An ancient lungfish.

Cretaceous Period: Dinosaurs Roam Texas

The Cretaceous Period saw the peak of dinosaur diversity. Many famous dinosaurs and other reptiles lived in Texas during this time.

Acrocanthosaurus: A huge, meat-eating dinosaur, similar to T. rex but with a distinctive ridge along its spine.
Alamosaurus: A massive, long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur (a sauropod) that was one of the last dinosaurs to live in North America.
Sauroposeidon: Another incredibly tall, long-necked dinosaur, possibly the tallest animal to ever live. Its footprints, known as Brontopodus, are found in Texas.
Tenontosaurus: A plant-eating dinosaur related to Iguanodon.
Protohadros: A duck-billed dinosaur.
Texacephale: A small, dome-headed dinosaur.
Texasetes: A type of armored dinosaur (an ankylosaur).
Deinosuchus: A giant crocodile relative, much larger than modern crocodiles, that preyed on dinosaurs.
Quetzalcoatlus: An enormous flying reptile (a pterosaur) with a wingspan as large as a small airplane. It was one of the largest animals to ever fly.
Mosasaurus: A giant marine reptile, similar to a lizard but adapted for ocean life. It was a fierce predator in the ancient seas.
Brachauchenius: Another large marine reptile, a type of plesiosaur with a short neck.
Libonectes: A long-necked plesiosaur that swam in the ancient Texas seas.
Triceratops: While not as common as in other states, some fossils of this famous horned dinosaur have been found in Texas.
Tyrannosaurus: The mighty T. rex also lived in Texas, though its fossils are rare here.
Enchodus: A bony fish with long, saber-like teeth, sometimes called the "saber-toothed herring."
Baculites: A type of ammonite (a shelled, squid-like creature) with a straight shell, unlike most ammonites which have coiled shells.
Exogyra: A common type of fossil oyster with a distinctive twisted shell.

Cenozoic Era: The Rise of Mammals (66 Million Years Ago to Today)

After the dinosaurs disappeared, mammals began to dominate the Earth. The Cenozoic Era in Texas saw a wide variety of mammals, from tiny rodents to giant elephants and saber-toothed cats.

Early Mammals and Giant Beasts

Hyracotherium: One of the earliest ancestors of horses, about the size of a small dog.
Uintatherium: A large, rhino-like mammal with bony knobs and horns on its head.
Titanoides: A large, heavy-bodied mammal with strong claws.
Allognathosuchus: An ancient alligator relative.
Hyaenodon: A large, powerful meat-eating mammal, similar to a hyena but not closely related.
Metamynodon: A swamp rhinoceros, similar to a hippo.
Daphoenodon: A "bear-dog," an ancient type of carnivore that looked like a mix between a bear and a dog.
Epicyon: A large, bone-crushing dog.
Borophagus: Another type of bone-crushing dog.
Teleoceras: A short-legged, barrel-bodied rhinoceros that lived in herds.
Aepycamelus: A "giraffe-camel" with a very long neck.
Synthetoceras: A deer-like animal with unusual Y-shaped horns on its nose.
Cranioceras: A relative of modern deer with horns on its skull.
Nannippus: A small, three-toed horse.
Pliohippus: A single-toed horse, very similar to modern horses.
Mammuthus columbi: The Columbian mammoth, a giant elephant relative that roamed Texas during the Ice Age.
Mammut americanum: The American mastodon, another large elephant relative, known for its cone-shaped teeth.
Cuvieronius: A type of gomphothere, an elephant relative with four tusks.
Stegomastodon: Another gomphothere, with shorter, more curved tusks.
Smilodon fatalis: The famous saber-toothed cat, a powerful predator with long, sharp canine teeth.
Homotherium: The scimitar cat, another saber-toothed cat with shorter, broader teeth.
Arctodus simus: The short-faced bear, a very large and powerful bear.
Glyptotherium texanum: A giant armadillo-like animal covered in bony plates.
Paramylodon harlani: A large ground sloth.
Nothrotheriops: Another type of ground sloth.
Camelops: The North American camel, a large camel that lived during the Ice Age.
Bison latifrons: The giant long-horned bison, much larger than today's bison.
Canis dirus: The dire wolf, a large wolf that hunted big prey.
Ceratogaulus: A horned gopher, a rodent with two horns on its snout.
Gopherus polyphemus: A type of tortoise.

Images for kids

Restoration of the Permian amphibian Acheloma
Fossilized shell of the Carboniferous-modern scallop Amusium
Life restoration of the Permian reptile Araeoscelis
Mold fossil of a shell of the Early Devonian-Late Triassic bivalve Aviculopecten
Illustration of a fossilized skull of the Permian primitive reptile Bolosaurus
Life restoration of the Permian amphibian Cacops
Life restoration of the Permian synapsid (mammal precursor) Casea
Fossilized shell of the Middle Devonian-Permian brachiopod Cleiothyridina
Fossilized shell of the Late Devonian-Permian brachiopod Composita
Life restoration of the Permian synapsid (mammal precursor) Cotylorhynchus
Restoration of D. giganhomogenes with exposed neural spine tips
Life restoration of the Permian synapsid (mammal precursor) Edaphosaurus
Life restoration of the Carboniferous-Permian amphibian Eryops
Life restoration of the Permian frog precursor Gerobatrachus
Life restoration of the Permian Chimaera relative Helicoprion
Life restoration of the Permian amphibian Isodectes
Life restoration of the Permian snake-like amphibian Lysorophus showing speculative egg-coiling behavior
Life restoration of the Permian synapsid (mammal precursor) Mycterosaurus
Fossilized shell of the Carboniferous-Permian brachiopod Neospirifer
Life restoration of the Carboniferous-Permian synapsid (mammal precursor) Ophiacodon
Pantylus
Fossils of the Late Devonian-Permian fern-like fronds Pecopteris
Life restoration of the Carboniferous-Permian sail-backed amphibian Platyhystrix
Life restoration of the Devonian-Permian tree fern Psaronius. Auguste Faguet (1877).
Life restoration of the Permian amphibian Rubeostratilia
Fossilized skeleton of the Permian primitive four-limbed animal Seymouria
Life restoration of the Late Devonian-Permian Sphenacanthus
Life restorations of a male (foreground) and female (background) of the Late Devonian-Carboniferous Chimaera relative Stethacanthus
Restorative portrait of the Permian synapsid (mammal precursor) Tetraceratops
Mounted fossilized skeleton of the Permian synapsid (mammal precursor) Varanosaurus
Life restoration of the Permian amphibian Zatrachys
Fossilized shell of the Early-Late Cretaceous ammonoid cephalopod Acanthoceras
Life restoration of the Early Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Acrocanthosaurus
Alamosaurus
Restoration of the Late Triassic lungfish Arganodus with an anachronistic human to scale
Fossilized shell of the Late Cretaceous ammonoid cephalopod Baculites
Life restoration of the Late Cretaceous plesiosaur Brachauchenius hunting a hesperornithiform bird
Fossil of the sauropod dinosaur footprint ichnogenus Brontopodus
Fossilized shell of the Cretaceous marine bivalve Caprina
Life restoration of the Late Triassic-Eocene lungfish Ceratodus
Life restoration of the Late Cretaceous pterosaur Cimoliopterus (left) stealing fish from another pterosaur
Fossilized shell of the Late Cretaceous ammonoid Collignoniceras
Fossil of the Early Cretaceous-Eocene shark Cretolamna
Mounted fossilized skeleton of the Late Cretaceous Alligator relative Deinosuchus
Restoration of the Late Triassic dinosaur relative Dromomeron
Restoration of the Early Cretaceous-Eocene bony fish Enchodus, or the "saber-toothed herring"
Fossilized shell of the Jurassic-Cretaceous foam oyster Exogyra
Illustration of a reconstructed skull of the Late Cretaceous mosasaur Globidens
A living Heterodontus, or bullhead shark
Restoration of the Late Cretaceous toothed bird Ichthyornis
Life restoration at various ages of the Late Triassic amphibian Koskinonodon with an anachronistic human to scale
Life restoration of the Late Cretaceous plesiosaur Libonectes with an anachronistic scuba diver to scale
Life restoration of the Late Triassic aetosaur Longosuchus
Fossilized shell of the Late Cretaceous ammonoid cephalopod Mammites
Life restoration of the Late Triassic amphibian Metoposaurus with an anachronistic human to scale
Life restoration of two of the Late Cretaceous Mosasaurus
Opalized guard of the belemnoid cephalopod Neohibolites
Fossilized tooth of the Late Cretaceous giant sawfish Onchopristis
Fossilized shell of the Late Cretaceous ammonoid cephalopod Parapuzosia with a human indicating its size
Fossilized shell of the Early Triassic-Pliocene marine bivalve Pholadomya
Restoration of the Late Triassic crocodile relative Postosuchus with an anachronistic human to scale
Life restoration of the Late Cretaceous bony fish Protosphyraena
Mounted fossilized skeleton of the Late Cretaceous pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus
Diagram illustrating the Early Cretaceous long-necked dinosaur Sauroposeidon with anachronistic humans to scale
Life restoration of the Late Triassic distant crocodilian relative Shuvosaurus
Life restoration of the Late Cretaceous ostrich dinosaur Struthiomimus
Life restoration of the Early Cretaceous Iguanodon relative Tenontosaurus
Mounted fossilized skeleton of the Late Cretaceous horned dinosaur Triceratops
Fossilized shell of the Late Cretaceous ammonoid cephalopod Turrilites
Fossilized skeleton of the Late Cretaceous tyrannosaur Tyrannosaurus
Fossilized partial skulls of the Early Cretaceous crocodilian Wannchampsus
Life restoration of the Miocene camel Aepycamelus, or the long-necked camel. Heinrich Harder (1920).
Fossilized skeleton of the Late Cretaceous-Oligocene Alligator relative Allognathosuchus
Life restoration of the Miocene-Pleistocene elephant relative Anancus
Restoration of an Arctodus, or short-faced bear, with a human to scale
Fossilized shell of the Paleocene-Miocene nautiloid cephalopod Aturia
Mounted fossilized skeleton of the Pleistocene Bison latifrons, or long-horned bison
Restoration of two of the Miocene-Pliocene bone-crushing dog genus Borophagus preying on a camel. Jay Matternes (1964).
Mounted fossilized skeleton of the Pliocene-Holocene camel Camelops
Fossilized skeleton of the Pleistocene dwarf pronghorn Capromeryx
Life restoration of the Miocene-Pleistocene horned gopher Ceratogaulus. Robert Bruce Horsfall (1913).
Fossilized cranium of the Pliocene-Pleistocene hyena Chasmaporthetes
A living Coluber constrictor, or eastern racer
Restoration of the Miocene palaeomerycid Cranioceras, a relative of modern deer, with anachronistic human to scale
Life restoration of the Pliocene-Holocene elephant relative Cuvieronius
Life restoration of the Miocene bear-dog Daphoenodon
Illustration of the fossilized jaws and teeth of the Eocene brontothere mammal Duchesneodus
Mounted fossilized skeleton of the Miocene bone-crushing dog Epicyon
Fossilized skeleton of the Pliocene-Pleistocene horse Equus simplicidens, also known as the Hagerman horse or American zebra
A living Ficus, or fig tree
Fossilized mandible of the Eocene horse Haplohippus
Life restoration of the Pleistocene pronghorn Hayoceros
A living Heterodon nasicus, or Western hognose snake
Restoration of Pliocene-Pleistocene Homotherium, or scimitar cat
Fossilized skull of the Miocene bear Indarctos
A living Lampropeltis getula, or eastern kingsnake
Illustration of a fossilized skull of the Oligocene-Miocene dog Leptocyon
Shell of a Lovenia sea urchin
Life restoration of a herd of Mammuthus columbi, or Columbian mammoths. The extent of the fur depicted is hypothetical. Charles R. Knight (1909).
Restoration of the Pliocene-Holocene ground sloth Megatherium. Robert Bruce Horsfall (1913).
Restoration of the Eocene-Oligocene oreodont mammal Merycoidodon. Heinrich Harder (1920).
Restoration of the Eocene-Miocene swamp rhinoceros Metamynodon. Charles R. Knight (1896).
Life restoration of a herd of Neohipparion. Robert Bruce Horsfall (1913).
Life restoration of the Pleistocene ground sloth Nothrotheriops
A living Odontaspis sand shark
Life restoration of the Miocene pronghorn Osbornoceros
Restorative portrait of the Early Jurassic synapsid (mammal precursor) Pachygenelus
Fossilized skeleton of the Pliocene-Pleistocene ground sloth Paramylodon
Fossilized skull of the Eocene-Oligocene lizard Peltosaurus
Illustration of a fossilized skull in multiple views of the Oligocene-Miocene bone-crushing dog Phlaocyon
Restoration of a herd of alarmed Miocene-Pleistocene peccaries of the genus Platygonus. Charles R. Knight (1922).
Fossilized skull of the Miocene horse Pliohippus
Restoration of the Miocene cat Pseudaelurus
Illustration of a fossilized skull of the Paleocene multituberculate mammal Ptilodus
A living Rana catesbeiana (sometimes Lithobates catesbeianus), or American bullfrog
Restoration of the Miocene-Pliocene elephant relative Rhynchotherium
A living Scaphiopus, or North American spadefoot toad
A living Sigmodon, or cotton rat
A living Xerospermophilus spilosoma, or spotted ground squirrel
Life restoration of the Pleistocene-Holocene saber-tooth cat Smilodon
Mounted fossilized skeleton of the Pliocene-Pleistocene elephant relative Stegomastodon
Life restoration of the Eocene taeniodont mammal Stylinodon mirus
Restoration of the Miocene-Pliocene rhinoceros Teleoceras
A living Terrapene carolina, or common box turtle
Life restoration of the Paleocene pantodont mammal Titanoides
Life restoration of the Eocene mammal Uintatherium
Fossilized skull of the Pliocene-Pleistocene wolf Xenocyon

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List of the prehistoric life of Texas Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.