Dinosaurs in Texas museum in UT Austin

This page offers a collection of photos from a museum about dinosaurs. I saved the best photos for last, including the question which prompted me to return to the museum with my camera.
We are all like grains of sand in the long continuum of time, when you consider what came before us. Austin used to look a bit different. Once upon a time, Austin's Town Lake might have looked something like this, before the tea sippers arrived and ruined everything.

Texas during the dinosaurs

The Brazos river was bigger than the Mississippi.

Map of North America during the dinosaurs

Click on the poster to get one. It is well worth having. You can also get it from Amazon.
There were big fish everywhere, like this Xiphactinus (also see video),

xiphactinus

and marine reptiles, like this Mosasaur (video), which was found in the Onion Creek area of Austin.

Mosasaur

It was literally eat or be eaten.

Mosasaur

These Plesiosaur remains were also found in Austin, on Shoal Creek.

Plesiosaur bones

A partial skeleton of another Plesiosaur was found in Falls County, Texas, and was used to make this exhibit.

Plesiosaur

Some remains of a giant sea turtle were found in McClennan County, Texas.

giant sea turtle

During the Permian Period, (290-250 million years ago), the waters receded to expose land.

dinosaur museum exhibit

The Edaphosaurus (video) lived in the swamps, eating plants,

Edaphosaurus

and was related to the Dimetrodon, though the Dimetrodon was carnivorous.

Dimetrodon

The Trilophosaurus was an herbivore.

Trilophosaurus

Reptiles, like the aforementioned lizards, shared the swamps with amphibians, like this Eryops Megacephalus, a carnivore and one of the largest land predators of its time.

Eryops Megacephalus

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