Dinosaur Bone Chunk (loose)

This is a loose item, with no display case. To purchase a displayed version, click here.

These approximately 1 inch dinosaur bone chunks come from an assortment of Jurassic period fossils. Many have had one or more of their edges cut, exposing the porous bone structure that is still visible within. Each chunk is approximately one inch in width, with the shape varying from piece to piece.

On the heels of a large scale extinction, dinosaurs emerged as the new dominant land animals in the Jurassic period (201.3 to 145 million years ago). The era saw the rise of massive herbivores like Brachiosaurus, an 80 ton giant that stood at 52 feet (16 m) tall and 85 feet (26 m) long, as well as fearsome predators like Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus. Lush plant life became more abundant as Earth's climate shifted from hot and dry to humid and tropical—a necessary step for plant-eating dinosaurs like Brachiosaurus that had to consume around 880 pounds (400 kg) of dried plant matter each day (Proceeding of the Royal Society B, 2008).

Both the oceans and the skies teemed with new life as well, in addition to the dinosaurs on land. Formidable reptiles like plesiosaurs and crocodiles dominated Earth's shallow interior seas. The earliest known bird (Archaeopteryx) is also thought to have evolved during this period, sharing the skies with flying reptiles known as pterosaurs.