prehistoric fauna
Creatures before humans
Prehistoric fauna are the animals that lived before recorded human history—dinosaurs, mammoths, saber-toothed cats, and countless others known only through fossils.
The term covers everything from ancient marine invertebrates to the megafauna that roamed alongside early humans: The museum's prehistoric fauna exhibit features a complete mastodon skeleton.
- tyrannosaurusHuge carnivorous dinosaur
- mastodonExtinct elephantine Pleistocene mammal
- trilobiteExtinct segmented marine arthropod
- mammothExtinct elephant with curved tusks
- stegosaurusPlate-backed Jurassic herbivore
aurochs · ammonite · pterosaur · cave bear · megafauna · archaeopteryx · mass extinction · sea scorpion · nautiloid · glyptodon · dire wolf · giant sloth · moa · velociraptor · Jurassic Park · paleontology · petrified · pterodactyl