Many Pokémon are inspired by real animals, like Charmander, which is inspired by a salamander. The same goes for fossil Pokémon.
Some of these prehistoric animals are well known, like the Tyrannosaurus, but others are not so famous. In this post, we will discover where the ideas for fossil Pokémon came from!
Table of Contents
1st generation
Omanyte/Omastar
Omanyte is inspired by ammonite mollusks, which lived long before the dinosaurs and went extinct along with them. There were many species of ammonites, some of which could be very small and others quite large, with shells up to two meters in diameter! Omanyte also seems to have been inspired by the nautilus, another mollusk that still lives today.
Kabuto/Kabutops
Kabuto, in turn, is inspired by the trilobite, an arthropod (arthropods are animals like insects, crustaceans, arachnids, etc.) that lived for millions of years before the dinosaurs, in the Paleozoic era. There were several species of trilobites, and they could feed on various things. The horseshoe crab, a crustacean similar to the trilobite and that still lives today, may also have inspired Kabuto.
Aerodactyl
The prehistoric animal that inspired this fossil Pokémon is well known to everyone: the pterodactyl! But “pterodactyl” is a very generic name for a large number of related animals that lived during the Mesozoic era, the age of dinosaurs, and that, nonetheless, were not “true” dinosaurs. Pterodactyls came in all sizes, some being small and others really large, like Quetzalcoatlus, which with a wingspan of about 10 meters, was like a small airplane!
3rd generation
Lileep/Cradily
Although they resemble plants, these two fossil Pokémon were inspired by crinoids, marine animals belonging to the class of echinoderms, meaning they are relatives of starfish and sea urchins! These animals appeared long before the dinosaurs and, although they were much more abundant in the past, they still survive today!
Anorith/Armaldo
These fossil Pokémon are based on anomalocaris, which belonged to a family of animals that may have given rise to modern arthropods. They lived long before the dinosaurs, in the Cambrian period, a time when life flourished on land and there were many species of animals. Anomalocaris were predators.
Relicanth
Although this is not a fossil Pokémon, it deserves to appear on this list because the animal that inspired it, the coelacanth, is a living fossil. It was thought that the coelacanth was extinct, but in 1938 a living specimen was discovered! And just look at a picture of a coelacanth to see how it is really different from the other fish we are used to!
4th generation
Cranidos/Rampardos
These fossil Pokémon were inspired by pachycephalosaurs, dinosaurs that lived in the Cretaceous period. These animals were herbivores and it is believed that they used their massive heads in disputes just like rams and other animals use their horns in head-butting fights!
Shieldon/Bastiodon
These were also inspired by dinosaurs, the ceratopsians. Shieldon resembles the Protoceratops, while Bastiodon looks more like the famous Triceratops! These animals were herbivores and lived in herds. They may have used their horns and head shields to compete with each other or to defend themselves from predators.
5th generation
Tirtouga/Carracosta
Tirtouga seems inspired by Protostega, an extinct turtle that measured 3 meters! If such a large turtle existed, imagine the Archelon, the fossil turtle that Carracosta seems to have been inspired by, which measured up to 5 meters!
Archen/Archeops
These two were inspired by Archaeopteryx, a fossil animal considered one of the oldest birds, as modern birds evolved from small carnivorous dinosaurs. Remember, whenever you eat chicken for lunch, you are eating a distant relative of the Tyrannosaurus!
6th generation
Tyrunt/Tyrantrum
I don’t even need to talk about these two! They are clearly based on the Tyrannosaurus, the most famous dinosaur of all!
Amaura/Aurorus
These two fossil Pokémon seem to have been based on sauropods, the famous “long-necked” dinosaurs. The Amargasaurus, one of these animals that may have had a sail on its neck (just like Spinosaurus had a sail on its back) may have inspired these Pokémon.
Well, these are the fossil Pokémon! We tried to talk a little about each one! Which one is your favorite? We recommend reading our article that lists the names of Pokémon in Japanese.
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