Dinosaurs Eye to Eye

Dinosaur timeline The age of dinosaurs began some 230 million years ago, near the beginning of the Mesozoic era. Dinosaurs went on to dominate life on Earth for 165 million years—a vast span of time that permitted the evolution of a dazzling variety of species. They were fantastically successful animals, and many were among the biggest and most spectacular creatures that have ever existed. Until recently, we thought they were all extinct—wiped out by some catastrophe 65 million years ago, and surviving only as fossils. Yet we now realize that one group of dinosaurs—birds—still flourishes, so the age of dinosaurs has not ended. We live in it.