Voyager Lecture Series, Presented By Dr. Jerry Harris

Dinosaurs were a group of land animals that lived from about 230 million years ago until about 60 million years ago. This spans the era of the Earth’s history known as the Mesozoic Era, which includes, from most ancient to most recent, the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Dinosaurs grew in population and diversity during their time on Earth before becoming extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period.

But not every reptile that lived during the Mesozoic era was a dinosaur. In fact, a lot of extinct animals that people think of as dinosaurs aren’t classified as dinosaurs. This is because they don’t share one or more of dinosaurs’ basic traits.

Come learn about the different classifications that come from these differences in shape and size.

Dr. Jerry Harris is currently the Director of Paleontology and a Professor of Geology at Dixie State University and the scientific advisor to the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm.