Lindsay Connolly

Northport used to be filled with many different types of dinosaurs that are unknown to most residents today. It was interesting to learn more about these creatures and what was in Northport millions of years ago!

Have you ever wondered which ancient creatures roamed around where you’re standing now? Well, now you can find the answer! Thanks to the groundbreaking dinosaur locating website, we can now see which dinosaurs lived in the area that is now our home. 

Some of our former neighbors include the Pteranodon, which is a genus of Pterosaur similar to the more well-known Pterodactyl. The Pteranodon was a flying reptile that lived in North America 90-100 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. Although they sound scary, they were about the size of a turkey and dined on exclusively fish; so think of them as prehistoric seagulls!

The Plesiosaurus is a marine reptile with an extremely long neck, flat body, and short tail. This dinosaur swam near the waters of what is now Northport Harbor 66 to 215 million years ago. Overall, Plesiosaurus is like a strange sea lion-giraffe hybrid, but it was pretty harmless.

My personal favorite is the Dryptosaurus, which was unfortunately not named after the clothing it wore, but instead after the combination of the two Greek words “tear” and “lizard” because of its aggressive way of eating its prey. They were 21 feet long and their diet consisted of plants and other dinosaurs. 

None of these guys are particularly dangerous, and if they were around today, it wouldn’t cause much of an issue for us humans. A more frightening thought is that, below the surface of the sea, another animal dwelled. 

Terrifyingly, the ginormous Mosasaurus used to live near what is now Northport. This isn’t seen at all now, but 145.5 to 66 million years ago, they ruled the ocean. They were carnivores with sharp teeth that could be up to 56 feet long. Even modern sharks would be no match for this aquatic dinosaur, as their size and strength would overpower them without much of a fight.

Northport used to be filled with many different types of dinosaurs that are unknown to most residents today. It was interesting to learn more about these creatures and what was in Northport millions of years ago!