Living Creatures That Dwell On Earth Since The Time Of Dinosaurs Dinosaurs ruled the land, water, and even sky for more than 180 million years before they wiped out due to an asteroid hit. Though they have become extinct, dinosaur claws and fossils are still present, though, buried deep in the ground that most paleontologists are extracting now. While most life on the earth met their fate of mass extinction during the Cretaceous-Tertiary period, many land-based vertebrates and marine families were lucky enough to survive. Here is a list of those animals whose ancestors lived alongside dinosaurs and were able to survive and thrive.