Latest articles by Julio Lacerda

Most modern mammals are either placentals or marsupials. These two lineages (and their extinct relatives) are collectively known as therian mammals, and achieved global dominance during the Cenozoic. Earlier mammal groups (including most therians outside of Placentalia or Marsupialia) became extinct along with the dinosaurs, thus rendering the term “Age of the Mammals” somewhat ironic.

Lurdusaurus was a burly, barrel-chested iguanodont that may have been semi-aquatic, living in and around the rivers of an ancient tropical forest. It moved slowly on land, measuring eight meters long (26 feet) and weighing more than five tons.

Dromaeosaurs, feathered predators nicknamed raptors, hunted with retractable sickle-shaped claws on their feet. Most dromaeosaurs had short and stocky legs, but this roadrunner-sized raptor walked on stilt-legs. It was part of the microraptorian lineage, famous for being four-winged gliders.