reptile closely related to snakes and 

 lizards. Measuring up to 35 feet in 

 length, mosasaurs had skin like snakes, 

 five-fingered flippers and a long tail 

 suited for ocean swimming. 



Hadrosaurs, duck-billed dinosaurs 

 measuring up to 40 feet in length, prob- 

 ably spent part of their life in shallow 

 water. They were vegetarians, living off 

 flowering plants. 



Other Cretaceous dinosaurs that 

 called North Carolina home included the 

 Orinthomimus, a ostrichlike dinosaur 

 with a toothless beak that stood 7 feet 

 high and measured 16 feet in length; the 

 Dryptosaurus, a carnivorous dinosaur 

 measuring 33 feet that stood on powerful 

 hind legs; and Deinosuchus rugosus, a 

 45-foot crocodile that fed on dinosaurs 

 and other animals. 



A marine reptile known as a plesio- 

 saur swam along coastal shores during 

 the Cretaceous period. This species had a 

 streamlined body, short neck and 

 paddlelike limbs. 



A variety of invertebrates also 



dwelled along Tar Heel shores. One 

 species that appeared throughout the 

 Cretaceous period was the ammonite, 

 which loosely resembled today's cham- 

 bered nautilus. Other invertebrate fossils 

 included clams, snails, tusk shells, sea 

 urchins and sand dollars. 



At the end of the Cretaceous 



When it comes 

 to finding fossils, 

 Nortk Carolina's Coastal 



Plain offers dozens of 

 sites wkere professionals 

 and amateurs can dig for 

 fossils millions of years 

 old. You can dig alone or 

 join a fossil expedition 

 sponsored by a 

 cluh or museum. 



period, many species became extinct, 

 including the dinosaurs. Though many 

 theories of their demise have been sug- 

 gested, no one knows for certain why they 

 died out. 



Fossils from this period are found in 

 the Cape Fear, Middendorf, Black Creek 

 and Pee Dee formations. Outcroppings 

 occur along riverbanks and in quarries. 



ThePaL 



leocene epoci 



The climate during the Paleocene 

 epoch, roughly 66 million to 54 million 

 years ago, remained warm but with fewer 

 species than the Cretaceous. The Beaufort 

 Formation of this epoch contains inverte- 

 brate remains of oysters, lamp shells and 

 cephalopods. Some Paleocene fossils can 

 be found along Mosley Creek off the 

 Neuse River, 10 miles northeast of 

 Kinston. 



♦The eocene epoc 



k: 



During the early Eocene, North 



14 MAY/JUNE 1994 



