Timeline

A Dinotopian pocket watch, fashioned similarly to the great helicoid geochronograph of Waterfall City

The following is a timeline covering events as they unfold in Dinotopia, based only on canonical sources, primarily the main book series and the digest novels.

Prehistory

• Undiclosed date during the Mesozoic: Dinotopia separates from mainland Asia, drifting into isolation through continental drift.
• Approx. 65,000,000 BC: A massive asteroid collides with the Earth, ending the Mesozoic and leading to the extinction of many groups of animals across most of the world, including the non-avian dinosaurs. Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals in Dinotopia seek refuge in the World Beneath, surviving the event.
• Approx. 17,000 BC: At this point in time, the rocky island which in the future would house Waterfall City is home to a population of Smilodon.

Ancient History

• Approx. 4,000 BC: The first humans arrive in Dinotopia.
• 3,855 BC: The city of Chandara is founded as a fortified palisade on the promontary above the Zhengtao River.
• 3,107 BC: Djhuty, a talented Chandaran architect and a Shuvuuia, escapes Dinotopia and retires in Ancient Egypt. He takes the name "Thoth" and greatly influences egyptian civilization.

Age of Heroes

The technologically advanced Empire of Poseidos threatened the rest of Dinotopia during the Age of Heroes.

Main Article: Age of Heroes

• Approx. 2,000 BC: The exact chronology of events during the Age of Heroes is uncertain, and are presented here in the most likely way based on the accounts of the adventures of Blake Terrapin and Gideon Altaire.
  • The pillars in the Golgorra Catacombs beneath Poseidos collapse, causing the city to sink into the sea and ending the Empire of Poseidos. The last emperor, Ogthar, escapes into the World Beneath and some small groups of survivors reach Prosperine.

Ninth Century

• 862 AD: The Twin Pyramids of Waterfall City, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon, the oldest structures still standing in the city, are completed.

Tenth Century

• 934 AD: The Grand Promenade of Waterfall City is constructed after a devastating flood of the city.

Fourteenth Century

• 1382 AD: The Bridge of the Winds is completed in Waterfall City.

Seventeenth Century

• 1645 AD: Avian architect Miltweeber designs the Banquet Hall of the Haven of the Muses in Waterfall City.
• 1654 AD: The earliest working phonographs at the Toy Museum of Waterfall City are from this year.

Eighteenth Century

• 1713 AD: The Uzgol Tapestries are moved from Waterfall City to Sauropolis to protect them from mildew.
• 1744 AD: The Blue Mist Ballroom of Waterfall City slumps into Cloudbottom Gorge.

Nineteenth Century

• 1853 AD: Lee Crabb arrives in Dinotopia as a dolphinback.
• 1860 AD: The Venturer departs Boston with Arthur and Will Denison onboard.
• 1862 AD
  • November 1st: Arthur and Will Denison are shipwrecked on the coast of Dinotopia, near Romano's Hatchery which they are led to by Sylvia Romano.
  • December: Arthur and Will Denison travel to Pooktook and meet Lee Crabb, who accompanies them to Volcaneum.
• 1863 AD
  • January: Arthur and Will Denison reach Volcaneum.
  • August 6th: Arthur and Will Denison, accompanied by Bix, arrive in Waterfall City. They stay there for the next year and a half.
• 1867 AD
  • March 12th:Arthur Denison tests out his Dragoncopter.
• 1868 AD: Joshua Longacre is rescued by dolphins and brought to Crackshell Point.
• 1869 AD:The Condor, containing a motley crew of pirates, enter Dinotopian waters in the area of the Rainy Basin.