Two large reptiles that did not survive the Chicxulub impact at the end of the Cretaceous are the pterosaur and triceratops. Although the pterosaurs are often described as flying dinosaurs, they are not technically dinosaurs. These flying reptiles and many large marine reptiles (e.g., plesiosaurs and mosasaurs) occupy different branches (or clades) of the taxonomic class Reptilia than do dinosaurs. Pterosaurs are in the clade Ornithodira, not Dinosauria. Nonetheless, they were part of a dramatically different ecosystem than that seen today and were driven to extinction along with the dinosaurs.
Triceratops is a true dinosaur and is one of the indicator species of the latest Cretaceous. This famously three-horned dinosaur was a herbivore that likely had to defend itself from the ferocious tyrannosaurs while the pterosaurs flew overhead looking for their next insect or vertebrate meal.
Here we provide cutouts of both animals. Please feel free to download the pages, print them, and assemble your own three-dimensional models of these fabulous creatures from another time.
