"It's The Mona Lisa of paleontology, the most talked about piece of dinosaur artwork that has ever been created. But really, it's more akin to The Bayeux Tapestry, because it tells an epic tale of conquest."
— Steve Brusatte in his book The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
The Age of Reptiles is a fresco mural at Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University, created by Russian-American artist Rudolph F. Zallinger (better known for his "March of Progress" illustration). It depicts the evolution of reptiles as understood at the time of its creation (1947), from the first terrestrial vertebrates to the famous dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous. It's the Trope Maker for many depictions of dinosaurs, and perhaps the most famous example of paleoart behind the portfolio of Charles R. Knight.
There is also a sequel to the fresco called "The Age of Mammals" also at the Peabody, covering the Cenozoic era.
Not to be confused with the comic Age of Reptiles, though the latter's naming may be a reference to the mural.
Examples:
- Artistic License – Paleontology:
- To be expected from an artwork over 75 years old, none of the creatures now barely resemble the real thing.
- All of the theropods stand way too upright.
- Age of Reptiles: Trope Namer, though not quite an example as the age is that of our world.
- Aquatic Sauropods: An Apatosaurus prominently is up to its haunches in swamp water eating weeds, although another is seen in the background on land with no issue.
- Generational Saga: Rather than a human family, it's about the entire clade of reptiles evolving over millions of years. It helps for a while it was the single biggest painting ever made.
- Sequential Art: The painting is arranged to go farther back in time as you go left to right.
