Dinosaur Timeline - When did dinosaurs live?
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Dinosaur Timeline for Kids: When did the dinosaurs live?
When trying to answer my son's questions about dinosaurs I realized I was rather lacking in my knowledge of the dinosaur timeline. So I decided to put that right. I've put together a page that aims to teach the basics of dinosaur history in a way that you'll remember. This could be the basis of a dinosaur lesson plan or just for fun.
New! Dinosaur Days Educational Resource Review
There's a Dinosaur Timeline Quiz at the end, so pay attention!
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Page Updated 9 Sept 2011
Dinosaur Timeline
Triassic, Jurassic, Creataceous
Here's a visual representation of the dinosaur timeline. It's done in horizontal layers because the time periods correspond to geological layers.
Click to download a printable pdf version of this dinosaur timeline with dinosaur names included
Poll: Dinosaurs and Flowering Plants
Did you know?
What is a dinosaur?
Dinosaurs PosterBuy at AllPosters.com (International)
Dinosaurs didn't just appear, they evolved from reptiles. Therefore before we look at the dinosaur timeline we need to understand what a dinosaur is.
We all recognize a dinosaur when we see one. Or do we? What is it that makes a dinosaur a dinosaur?
Dinosaurs are reptiles with a set of features that distinguish them from other reptiles. The most commonly cited distinguishing feature is that dinosaurs legs go straight down underneath them, like the legs of mammals and unlike the legs of other reptiles which splay out to the side.
As we will see, there are lots of animals that are generally referred to as dinosaurs which technically weren't dinosaurs.
When did dinosaurs first appear?
To put this in context, the earth is calculated to be around 4.5 billion years old (that's American billions, i.e. 4.5 thousand million years old).
The first simple cells appeared 3.8 billion years ago and life gradually evolved from that point.
Fish appeared around 500 million years ago.
Reptiles appeared around 300 million years ago.
Dinosaurs appeared around 230 million years ago.
Mammals appeared around 200 million years ago.
Birds appeared around 150 million years ago.
(See a full timeline of evolution at Wikipedia.)
My First Dinosaur Board Book (My 1st Board Books)
Amazon Price: $3.11 (as of 05/31/2012)![]()
My First Dinosaur book (get it?).
When did dinosaurs go extinct?
Humans have only looked like they do today for 200,000 years. We have a way to go to catch the dinosaurs.
But it wasn't the same species of dinosaurs throughout their 160 million year reign. Dinosaurs evolved and not all species of dinosaur existed at the same time.
Mesozoic Era: Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous
Three ages of dinosaurs
To remember of the order of the ages of the dinosaurs we've come up with this mnemonic:
Terrible Jurassic Creatures.
Dinosaur Timeline for Kids
And we like this:
The Magic School Bus: Back in Time with the Dinosaurs
Amazon Price: $14.66 (as of 05/31/2012)![]()
Lots of dinosaur activities including making a dinosaur timeline.
Giant Evolution Timeline: Poster
Giant Evolution Timeline: Poster
Amazon Price: $23.00 (as of 05/31/2012)![]()
Brilliant. This is 12 feet long! Evolution timeline including dinosaurs and more.
Permian
Dimetrodon
Permian Pre-Dinosaurs
Yes, dinosaurs appeared in the Triassic. Permian is the era before Triassic and Dimetrodon lived in Permian period.
Dimetrodon is NOT a dinosaur. Dimetrodon lived in the Permian era before the dinosaurs. Interestingly, Dimetrodon was more closely related to mammals than to lizards. We have a couple of Dimetrodons in our dinosaur box. Now we know.
Dinosaur Timeline Games
Dinosaur Timeline Online Activities for Kids
- Dinosaur Times Game
- Drag dinosaurs onto the correct time period.
- Dinosaur Train - All Aboard
- For preschool children. Help the passengers on the Dinosaur Train as is passes through the Triassic, Jurassic and Triassic stations.
Triassic
245 million years ago to 208 million years ago
Triassic Dinosaurs
245-208 million years ago
Eoraptor was one of the very first dinosaurs. No, I hadn't heard of him either. Eoraptor was a carnivore of about 1m in length. Eoraptor was discovered in 1991.

Professor Barrister's Dinosaur Mysteries #3: The Case of the Enormous Eoraptor
@ Amazon
BUY NOWCoelophysis appeared later in the Triassic period. Coelophysis was also a carnivore, but was bigger than Eoraptor at around 3m in length.
The first herbivores also appeared in the late Triassic. Plateosaurus was big, up to 10m long.
Coelophysis
Triassic Dinosaur
Walking With Dinosaurs: The Age of the Dinosaur Dawns
Triassic Dinosaurs
In The Age of the Dinosaur Dawns we meet Coelophysis and Plateosaurus. Well worth watching.
Walking with Dinosaurs DVD
BBC
Walking with Dinosaurs
Amazon Price: $13.35 (as of 05/31/2012)![]()
We have watched the Walking with Dinosaurs DVD many times in our house. Fabulous stuff. Packed full on dinosaur facts and beautiful scenery. Highly recommended.
Dinosaur Safari (Late Triassic): Riojasaurus
The video below is from the Dinosaur Safari game. A PC game from a few years ago where you can travel back in time and take pictures of dinosaurs from all the dinosaur time periods. It's a little dated, but you can often pick up a used copy very cheaply.

Dinosaur Safari
@ Amazon
BUY NOWJurassic
208 million years ago to 145 million years ago
Jurassic Dinosaurs
Large herbivores like Brachiosaurus roamed the land and pterosaurs soared above.
Jurassic Park Adventure Pack (Jurassic Park / The Lost World: Jurassic Park / Jurassic Park III)
Amazon Price: $26.00 (as of 05/30/2012)![]()
Jurassic Park may not have been 100% scientifically accurate, but it certainly increased interest in dinosaurs.
SUPERSAURUS - the jurassic period
This video is from the dinosaur timeline teaching resource Dinosaur Days (See: Dinosaur Days: Jurassic) which was designed to appeal to girls as well as boys. Some material is available to preview free of charge and for a small fee you can get full access to the educational material.
Brachiosaurus
Jurassic Dinosaurs
Cretaceous
145 million years ago to 65 million years ago
Cretaceous Dinosaurs
The Creataceous era had lots of volcanic activity. Flowering plants appeared and spread. Hadrosaurs like Parasaurolophus fed on flowering plants. Plentiful food supplies and the temperate climate meant that dinosaurs kept getting bigger. There were some really big carnivores like T-Rex and Spinosaurus during the Cretaceous period. And even bigger herbivores like the long-necked Sauropod Argentinosaurus.
The dinosaurs were doing very well at the end of the Cretaceous period, and then they became extinct. Most scientists think this was due to a massive meteorite hitting the earth and causing a devastating cloud of debris which stopped plants growing. The dinosaurs had a good run, but the Cretaceous was their final era.
Cretaceous Dawn
Amazon Price: $7.25 (as of 05/30/2012)![]()
A time-travel novel set in the Cretaceous time period and full of facts and adventure.
MAIASAUR - the cretaceous period
(From Dinosaur Days: Cretaceous.)
Poll: Favorite Dinosaur Time Period
Dinosaur Days Resource
Online or CD-ROM
Dinosaur Days is organized into the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous time periods and features dinosaurs from each time period as well as general videos on dinosaurs. There are also games to play and worksheets to complete. Some of the more advanced activities require reading so I can see this will last my boys for a while.
Well worth the very low purchase price for the beta of Dinosaur Days.
Dinosaur Timeline Summer Outdoor Activity
Mark out a timeline with thick vertical lines at the boundaries of the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous time periods at the ratios shown in the dinosaur timeline diagram. You can either do this roughly by eye or you can get a big measuring tape and mark it accurately.
Write the names of the time periods onto the timeline in one color. And write the names of dinosaurs that lived in the time period in the correct place. Or if you're artistic you can draw the dinosaurs.
You can also add on when humans appeared and how long we have been around.
Working in physical space like this is a brilliant way to develop an understanding of the time periods involved. And it's lots of fun! Everyone in the neighborhood will wonder what you are up to!
You'll need:
You might also enjoy
Triceratops or Torosaurus?
Dinosaur Timeline Printables and Worksheets
Mesozoic Activities
- Mesozoic Timeline
- A printable timeline showing the three dinosaur time periods with dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures to color in.
- Animal Time Line
- A geological timeline, including the age of the dinosaurs, with activities and a quiz.
- Printable Mesozoic Era Wordsearch
- From Fossil Facts and Finds.
- Printable Mesozoic Era Crossword
- From Fossil Facts and Finds.
- Earth Science Lesson Plans
- Includes activities for the Mesozoic (Triassic, Jurassic and Creataceous) time period including a geological clock.
Evolution of Dinosaurs Timeline
How did dinosaur species evolve?
This is a great resource for seeing when the different dinosaur families evolved and how they are related.
Image Credit: Zureks Wikipedia CC
Dinosaur Timeline | Sticker books | Murals | etc
on eBay
Dinosaur Timeline Video
Dinosaur Timeline Quiz
Online and Printable Versions
Would you like a printable version of this quiz and the answers?
Dinosaur Trivia Quiz Printable
Dinosaur Trivia Quiz Answers Printable
Were you paying attention?
Try another dinosaur quiz?
National Geographic Kids Ultimate Dinopedia: The Most Complete Dinosaur Reference Ever
National Geographic Kids Ultimate Dinopedia: The Most Complete Dinosaur Reference Ever
Amazon Price: $15.30 (as of 05/31/2012)![]()
Packed with dinosaur facts and up to date.
Dinosaur Timeline and Creationism
This is simply not true. Christian pseudo-scientists decide on the outcome they want (dinosaurs and people and all other creatures lived at the same time just after a god created them) and then they reason backwards making up things that sound plausible if you're not a scientific thinker.
This article does a great job of debunking creationist myths about the dinosaur timeline: Christian Answers: Fossils and The Flood. (There is some strong language in the article. Understandably.)
A great activity for older kids is to present the pseudo-scientific explanation of the flood to them and see if they can find the problems with it.
So how do we know all this stuff about dinosaurs?
Dinosaur Discovery Timeline
Dinosaur History
Dinosaur bones had probably been discovered many times through prehistory and history, but it was the community of scientists and naturalists in 19th century (1800s) England who began the serious study and classification of dinosaurs.
Richard Owen was one of the leading experts and in 1842 he coined the term Dinosauria to name these creatures.

Stone Girl Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning
@ Amazon
BUY NOWMary Anning was a key figure in the collecting and cataloguing of dinosaur fossils and other prehistoric specimens. It was very usual for a female to be taken seriously, but Anning was so knowledgeable that she couldn't be ignored.

The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins: An Illuminating History of Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, Artist and Lecturer
@ Amazon
BUY NOWWe have this book and it's absolutely gorgeous. It has illustrations by Brian Selznick and tells the story of the first dinosaur park. The Crystal Palace dinosaurs were put on display in London in 1854. This book explains how Mr Waterhouse Hawkins used his knowledge of the natural world and artistic skills to recreate dinosaurs for the first time. We're lucky enough to have visited the Crystal Palace dinosaurs. Yes, they're still there today.
Comments
Did you learn something? Anything you'd like to see added? Anything we got wrong? Let us know!
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agoofyidea
Mar 5, 2012 @ 2:29 pm | delete
- Excellent lens. I knew alot and still learned alot.
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Vallygems1
Jan 20, 2012 @ 3:59 am | delete
- Great Fun lens
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Edutopia
Jan 15, 2012 @ 12:00 pm | delete
- Great lens! Never any problem with adding a little education into people's lives.
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jadehorseshoe
Dec 23, 2011 @ 12:54 pm | delete
- SUPER Educational Lens!
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madinvestment
Nov 10, 2011 @ 2:58 pm | delete
- Great lens! Thanks for sharing it with all us fellow Squids! One big thumbs up vote left!
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Where next?
Newsflash: Dinosaur origins pushed further back in time - Prorotodactylus
According to new research, dinosaur-like creatures existed earlier than previously though - around 9 million years before. That's very early in the Triassic period. This newly discovered oldest dinosaur ancestor has been named Prorotodactylus as was about the size of a domestic cat.
- Dinosaur origins pushed further back in time
- Dinosaur footprints found in 250 million year old rock.
Who's talking about the dinosaur timeline?
- May 29, 2012 @ 9:01 amTHEPOET'S LIBRARY: The Princeton Field Guide to... from dinosaur timeline paleontology - Google Blog Search
- "The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs" is a must-have for anyone who loves dinosaurs, from the amateur enthusiast to the professional paleontologist. ... More than 130 color life studies,...
- Feb 5, 2012 @ 7:57 amHistory Of Paleontology, including: Timeline Of Paleontology... from dinosaur timeline paleontology - Google Blog Search
- History Of Paleontology, including: Timeline Of Paleontology, Saurian Expedition Of 1905, Bone Wars, Kirkdale Cave, Dinosaur Renaissance, History Of ... Determination In Dinosaurs, Duria Antiquior ...
Dinosaur Timeline Contents
Did you miss anything?
- Dinosaur Timeline
- Poll: Dinosaurs and Flowering Plants
- What is a dinosaur?
- When did dinosaurs first appear?
- When did dinosaurs go extinct?
- Dinosaur Timeline Activity for Kids K-4
- Mesozoic Era: Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous
- Dinosaur Timeline for Kids
- Giant Evolution Timeline: Poster
- Permian
- Dimetrodon
- Dinosaur Timeline Games
- Triassic
- Triassic Dinosaurs
- Coelophysis
- Walking With Dinosaurs: The Age of the Dinosaur Dawns
- Walking with Dinosaurs DVD
- Dinosaur Safari (Late Triassic): Riojasaurus
- Jurassic
- Jurassic Dinosaurs
- SUPERSAURUS - the jurassic period
- Dilophosaurus
- Brachiosaurus
- Stegosaurus
- Rhamphorhynchus
- Cretaceous
- Cretaceous Dinosaurs
- MAIASAUR - the cretaceous period
- Tyrannosaurus Rex - T-Rex
- Parasaurolophus
- Triceratops
- Poll: Favorite Dinosaur Time Period
- Free Dinosaur Timeline Game
- Dinosaur Days Resource
- Dinosaur Timeline Summer Outdoor Activity
- You might also enjoy
- Dinosaur Timeline Printables and Worksheets
- Evolution of Dinosaurs Timeline
- Dinosaur Timeline | Sticker books | Murals | etc
- We took this photo of a brilliant Dinosaur Timeline at Torquay's Dinosaur World Museum
- Dinosaur Timeline Video
- Dinosaur Timeline Quiz
- Try another dinosaur quiz?
- National Geographic Kids Ultimate Dinopedia: The Most Complete Dinosaur Reference Ever
- Dinosaur Timeline and Creationism
- So how do we know all this stuff about dinosaurs?
- Dinosaur Discovery Timeline
- Comments
- Where next?
- Dinosaur Timeline News
- Newsflash: Dinosaur origins pushed further back in time - Prorotodactylus
- Who's talking about the dinosaur timeline?
- Dinosaur Facts for Kids
- Thanks for Visiting
Thanks for Visiting
by DinosaurEgg
DinosaurEgg is Mom to two boys who love dinosaurs and created a Dinosaur Timeline to answer their questions.
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