In Depth Deltadromeus was a mid-sized theropod that lived in North Africa, but while the time period it is known from places it in the late (or alternatively upper) Cretaceous, it actually roughly lived during the middle of this period. The skull of this dinosaur is so far unknown but the recovered post cranial remains … Read more
In Depth Nambalia is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in India during the late Triassic. Further Reading - New dinosaur species from the Upper Triassic Upper Maleri and Lower Dharmaram formations of Central India. - Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 101:333-349. - F. E. Novas, M. D. … Read more
In Depth Hesperornithoides is a genus of troodontid dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Jurassic. Further reading - A new paravian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America supports a late acquisition of avian flight. - PeerJ 7:e7247. - S. Hartman, M. Mortimer, W. R. Wahl, D. R. Lomax, J. Lippincott … Read more
In Depth Even though the name Eocarcharia means ‘dawn shark’, it was actually a theropod dinosaur. This name came about from the serrated slicing teeth that are thought to have sliced through flesh as easily as a shark. The dawn part is a reference to its early appearance to some other related genera. Although only … Read more
In Depth Ceratosaurus has been known to science since towards the end of the nineteenth century, and thanks to its head ornamentation, has long been one of the most popular. Early on, Othniel Charles Marsh considered the blade like nasal horn to have been a weapon against other dinosaurs, but this is no longer considered … Read more
In Depth Proceratosaurus was a small predatory theropod dinosaur active in what would become southern England during the mid-Jurassic. Arthur Smith Woodward first described the partial skull of Proceratosaurus as another species of Megalosaurus, a genus that suffered from the wastebasket taxon effect of almost any predatory dinosaur fossil being attributed to it. Friedrich von … Read more
In Depth Camelotia was a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in England during the Late Triassic. However the rear limb is also similar to early sauropods, something which has seen the Camelotia genus tentatively assigned to the Melanorosauridae (type genus Melanorosaurus). The name Camelotia was derived from the name Camelot, the castle that was … Read more
In Depth The full type species name for this dinosaur is Lepidus praecisio which means ‘fascinating fragment’. This is because while not many fossils of this dinosaur are known, we can observe that the astragalus (talos) and calcaneum are fused into one, which is a trait of neotheropod dinosaurs. At the same time however, the … Read more
In Depth Juravenator was a small predatory dinosaur active in the late Jurassic of Europe. It appears to have been a fleet footed hunter that specialised in either invertebrates or small vertebrates like lizards. The scleral rings of Juravenator show similarities with nocturnal birds strongly suggesting that Juravenator was most active at night. The holotype … Read more
In Depth Xingxiulong is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in China during the early Jurassic. The robust nature of the fossils bones strongly suggest that Xingxiulong would have been heavily built in life, though likely still would have been bipedal. Further Reading - A new basal sauropodiform dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of … Read more