Believe it or not, but once upon a time, in the area we now know as North America, there existed a forgotten continent which was inhabited by a cast of peculiar dinosaurs you’ve probably never heard of. In fact, the history of the lost world of Appalachia is basically missing.
North America was once separated into two colossal islands bisected by the Western Interior Seaway stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean. In the Late Cretaceous era, from approximately 100 to 66 million years ago, Appalachia stood as the eastern continent while the western landmass was known as Laramidia.
We’ve all heard of the dinosaur superstars of Laramidia, which include the long-necked giant Alamosaurus, the terrifyingly big-brained Tyrannosaurus rex (which comes from the Greek for “tyrant lizard king”) and the elephant-sized Triceratops with its three-horned face. These “western” dinosaurs populate the majority of museums in the United States, while capturing the imagination of Hollywood filmmakers.
Meanwhile, few have even heard of Appalachia. A giant island, which once stretched from northern Canada to all the way down to modern-day Alabama, scientists believe that eastern Appalachia was completely isolated from the rest of North America for almost 30 million years. This can explain why its flora and fauna were so unique.
With such curious residents, including the duck-billed dinosaur Eotrachodon orientalis , the flesh-ripping and grasping-handed Dryptosaurus aquilunguis , or the…
