Between 144 and 65 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period, dinosaurs roamed Central Texas, flowing plants began to bloom for the first time, and life, as it exists today, came to be. The Cretaceous Period ended with the Mesozoic Era about 65 million years ago when a large global extinction ended the age of the dinosaurs.

Tracks believed to be those of an ostrich-like dinosaur, Ornithomimus, were discovered in January 1992. While uncovering these tracks, bones of a marine turtle, Osteopygis, were uncovered in March 1992. The estimated age of the tracks and bones is 100 million years. Reproductions of these tracks have been installed in the garden to give visitors a glimpse of what a central Texas site during the Cretaceous Period may have looked like.

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