I Came Before the Dinosaurs!

Do you ever wonder what came before the dinosaurs? Learn about the first animals to conquer land.

Learn more about the animals from the world-famous Texas Permian Red Beds. The term Permian refers to the age of the red rocks on the surface in Seymour, Texas which date back to more than 287 million years ago. That is roughly 40 Million Years before the first dinosaurs appear!

In this book, paleontologist Holly Simon brings us an incredible story about Permian animals in the point of view as “Abby” the Dimetrodon. “Abby” is the first Dimetrodon skeleton Holly ever found in Seymour, Texas.

Abby the Dimetrodon was discovered by Holly Simon in 2016. Abby’s skeleton is disarticulated, meaning the bones are no longer in a life position. They have been pulled apart by scavengers after death. The bones with the most muscle are understandably absent, such as the legs and tail where the densest muscles in the body are found. These are the parts that get scavenged first. Find the puncture wound on Abby’s skull from another Dimetrodon.

Seymouria was first discovered in 1875 and named after the town of Seymour, Texas by Charles Sternberg. While working for Harvard University, Charles Sternberg came across what would be the first fossil evidence of Seymouria. The specimen was labeled as ‘Unknown Reptile No. 1”. The specimen was finally officially assigned a name in 1910. Learn about Seymouria in Holly Simon’s book “ I Came Before the Dinosaurs”.

Author Biography

I have been employed with the Whiteside Museum of Natural History since 2016. I started off as the Live Animal Curator, where I was in charge of caring for live reptiles and amphibians in the museum’s zoozeum. In 2019, I was promoted to Assistant Director.I’m an active member of the paleontological dig crew and has discovered numerous complete Dimetrodon skeletons, as well as the most elusive of the Permian animals, Seymouria. I’m also the museum’s Marketing and Social Media Director.I have spent many years collecting fossils from the badlands of Wyoming, from the Oligocene and Eocene periods. I have also been conducting fossil-hunting expeditions in the Cretaceous Mesa Verde Formation in Wyoming. It is my mission to inspire the next generation of paleontologists, especially young women. Christopher Flis has worked in the museum and paleontology industry since 2004. He was born in Midland, Texas, and has also lived in Dublin, Ireland and London, England. Chris has worked for multiple museums throughout his career, including the Houston Museum of Natural Science, The Black Hills Institute of Geologic Research, and the Lafayette Natural History Museum in Lafayette, Louisiana. Chris graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a degree in English and minors in History and French. His college studies also included geology and biology with emphasis in paleontology, anatomy, and evolutionary biology.