- One of the leading and most influential paleoartists of the 20th century. He painted the famous "The Age of Reptiles" mural that decorates the Yale Peabody Museum's Great Hall. The 4.9 m × 34 m painting, which portrays ancient fauna beginning from when vertebrates first appeared on land all the way though the age of the dinosaurs, took three years to complete, and was unveiled in 1947. He started working on the project in his 20s, still a student.
- His depiction of Tyrannosaurus on "The Age of Reptiles" mural served as a basis for the design of the famous Japanese movie monster Godzilla.
- His mural "The Age of Reptiles" became one of the most famous artworks to depict dinosaurs, but the painting is different from how most people have seen it in books, magazines and on posters. Reproductions of the painting were actually based on its original egg tempera study, not the finalized fresco. Zallinger decided to change numerous details when transferring the model onto Yale Peabody Museum's Great Hall:
- the final painting has a much more elaborate background and some different, more detailed plants
- the famous Tyrannosaurus has a different head and lacks its wrinkles and veins seen on the egg tempera model
- the Brontosaurus in the middle of the painting is much less detailed, has different shading, a differing head shape, and the plant falling from its mouth is gone
- the Stegosaurus behind the Brontosaurus had red plates on the study, which were changed to gray and black
- the bird-like dinosaur Archaeopteryx was brightly colored in the model, but is colored brown on the mural
- the sail-backed animals lack the shiny gleam from their sails
- a small Cretaceous mammal makes an appearance on the final painting, next to Zallinger's signature.
- Middle name is Franz.
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