Its evolution, Carracosta, is likely based on the Archelon, a giant prehistoric turtle, measuring 4.6 m in length, from the Late Cretaceous. Tirtouga is based on fossil turtles and looks exactly like a cartoon turtle. Pokémon Black & White added the Cover and Plume Fossils, which evolved into two new Pokémon, Tirtougaand Archen.
Instead, these frills would have been used for social and sexual display amongst their species and could have been used to intimidate potential predators by making the animal appear bigger. Many of them had large imposing frills, but the frills of most species would have been fairly weak.
This is not the case for most ceratopsian dinosaurs. It is stated in their lore that these Pokémon are virtually impenetrable from the front. These Pokémon are much more cartoony in their appearance, with literal shields for their faces, whilst ceratopsian dinosaurs had head frills that covered their necks. A ROCK/STEEL type, it and its evolution Bastiodon seem to be based on Ceratopsia, specifically Protoceratopsfor Shieldon. The other fossil that can be obtained is the armour fossil, which evolves into Shieldon. Like Craniodos, pachycephalosaurs likely used their heads in fights over territory and mates, although this is debated, and were susceptible to extreme injury from these fights, unlike Pokémon. Again, this Pokémon clearly takes inspiration from the dinosaur clade Pachycephalosauria, ornithischian dinosaurs characterised by their reinforced skulls. In this game, the skull fossil can be turned into the Pokémon Cranidos. In these games, the player must dig them out of tunnels in an underground section instead of being gifted them, allowing the player to be a palaeontologist in the field for the first time. A ROCK/BUG type, Anorith clearly takes its inspiration from Anomalocaris, a Cambrian arthropod and one of the first large predators to evolve.ĭiamond, Pearl, and Platinum also added two new fossil Pokémon and provided an interesting method to obtain them. The other fossil that can be obtained is the claw fossil, which turns into the Pokémon Anorith. Instead, its lore, which states it lived on the seafloor, hints at the inspiration of crinoids, which also have a long column and arms around the ‘head’. Whilst it comes from a root fossil and has a partial GRASS typing, it does not seem to be based on a fossilised plant. Lileep is possibly the most unique fossil Pokémon, as its origins are not easily identifiable. They introduced the root fossil, which can be resurrected into a Lileep. The next batch would come in the third set of games, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. The following games in the series, Gold, Silver, and Crystal, didn’t add any new fossil Pokémon. However, it is distinctly heavier-looking than the delicate pterosaurs of the early Mesozoic but is still a recognisable reinterpretation. The inspiration for Aerodactyl comes from pterosaurs, more specifically the earlier pterosaurs called Rhamphorynchoids which typically had longer tails and teeth, just like this Pokémon. However, a creature as large as an Aerodactyl is simply too big to be preserved like this. Whilst this method seems extremely farfetched, there have been recent finds of very small reptiles trapped and preserved in amber. This Pokémon comes from an Old Amber, which is likely a reference to Jurassic Park, where they obtain dinosaur DNA from mosquitoes trapped in amber. The last fossil Pokémon of this Gen is Aerodactyl, a ROCK/FLYING type. Their evolutions are both much more elaborate and less realistic, but both are still discernible to their origins, which is often the case with these fossil Pokémon. Similarly, Kabuto, another ROCK/WATER type, is based on trilobites and again has a cartoon resemblance, as well as an accurate typing as trilobites were exclusively aquatic. Its depiction is fairly accurate, looking how you would expect a cartoon version of an ammonite to look. This is a ROCK/WATER type and is based on an ammonite, one of the most common and recognisable fossils in the world.
The Helix Fossil gifts the player an Omanyte. In the very first Pokémon games, Red, Blue, and Yellow, there were 3 fossils available. Right: the real-life inspirations for the fossil Pokémon pictured on the left. Middle: a Pikachu, dressed up as Alan Grant from Jurassic Park. Left: some of the fossil Pokémon available in the game.
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