Dinosaurs and their relatives

Dinosaurs are classified as a group of reptiles, although some of their features are found in mammals and birds living today rather than in reptiles. It appears that some dinosaurs were warm-blooded and walked with an upright gait.

Dinosaurs in the Museum

Learn more about our gallery and what's behind-the-scenes.

Dinosaurs Exhibition
Winny the Dinosaur Puppet
Australian Museum Palaeontology Collection

Australian dinosaurs

Learn more about dinosaurs discovered here in Australia.

Australian dinosaurs
Australian theropod dinosaurs
Diamantinasaurus matildae
Fulgurotherium australe
Leaellynasaura amicagraphica
Minmi paravertebra
Muttaburrasaurus langdoni
Qantassaurus intrepidus
Rhoetosaurus brownei
Wintonotitan wattsi
Omoonasaurus demoscyllus

Dinosaurs to birds?

The idea that birds evolved from dinosaurs is not new.

The living dinosaurs
The first birds
Bird-like dinosaurs
Modern birds
The Mesozoic extinction event

How dinosaurs lived

Learn more about plant-eating and meat-eating dinosaurs.

Dinosaur lifecycles: from go to woe
Dinosaur senses
Dinosaurs living together
Dinosaurs getting around
Herbivore teeth and diet
Defence and signalling
Herbivorous heavyweights
Carnivore teeth and diet
Dinosaurs on the attack

Chinese dinosaurs

Fact sheets on a selection of dinosaurs discovered in China.

Caudipteryx zoui
Huayangosaurus taibaii
Lufengosaurus huenei
Mamenchisaurus jingyanensis
Mamenchisaurus youngi
Omeisaurus tianfuensis
Pliosaur
Psittacosaurus sinensis
Sinosauropteryx prima
Shunosaurus lii
Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus
Velociraptor mongoliensis
Yangchuanosaurus huopingensis
Yangchuanosaurus shangyouensis

The dinosaurs' world

What was earth like at the time of the dinosaurs? How do we know?

What is a dinosaur?
The Mesozoic Era (251 - 65 million years ago)
The Mesozoic extinction event
Dating dinosaurs and other fossils
Preparing fossils, reconstructing the past
The geological time scale