In Depth What would otherwise be an unassuming little fossil dinosaur, it is near impossible to talk about Sciurumimus without bringing up the subject of feathered dinosaurs. Exquisitely well preserved upon a slab, examination of the holotype specimen of a juvenile Sciurumimus under ultraviolet light revealed the presence of primitive protofeathers that would have covered … Read more
In Depth When Shanag was first described the genus was described as a member of the Dromaeosauridae, but later studies have refined this further to suggest that Shanag was closer to dromaeosaurid genera such as Microraptor. So far Shanag is only known from partial jaw material, but analysis and comparisons to other related genera suggests … Read more
In Depth The discovery of Suchomimus helped towards the more accurate reconstruction of its potentially much larger relative Spinosaurus. Combined with knowledge from the discovery of Baryonyx and new partial skull material attributed to Spinosaurus remains resulted in Spinosaurus finally being given a crocodile-like skull instead that of the more typical theropod skull style. These … Read more
In Depth Remains of Suskityrannus were first announced back in 1998 when the description of the ceratopsian dinosaur Zuniceratops was first published. Back then the fossil remains were thought to have been those of a dromaeosaur, but in 2019, a more detailed analysis of these fossils were published. The name chosen for this dinosaur was … Read more
In Depth The name Carcharodontosaurus is derived from the Carcharodon genus of sharks, a group famous for including the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). This name was chosen because the teeth are sharp and serrated in a similar manner to the great white sharks, something that meant they could slice through the flesh of prey … Read more
In Depth Initially thought to be a tiny abelisauroid at the time of discovery, the lack of fusing in the vertebrae is now seen as proof that the individual which makes up the holotype is actually a juvenile. Unfortunately, because the remains of Ligabueino are so incomplete, it is hard to ascertain exactly what kind … Read more
In Depth Although Deinonychus was first discovered in 1931, it would not be until the 1960s with the advent of more discoveries that it would get named and studied in detail. These studies helped lead to one of the most radical ideas put forward in the field of palaeontology; at least some of the dinosaurs … Read more
In Depth The end five caudal (tail) vertebrae of Nomingia are fused together to form a pygostyle like that of birds. In birds, the pygostyle serves as the attachment point for the tail flight feathers, and in Nomingia the pygostyle probably had a similar function. However as an oviraptosaur, Nomingia would not have been capable … Read more
In Depth Rinchenia was originally described as a species of Oviraptor by Rinchen Barsbold in 1986, but a later re-evaluation identified the species as a distinct genus. Unfortunately for Oviraptor, this removed the only skull were the crest is preserved, meaning that reconstructions of Oviraptor are now based upon Rinchenia. This might not be a … Read more
In Depth Hulsanpes is a dinosaur genus that is so far only known from a single partial foot. Over time Hulsanpes has been described as everything from a primitive bird to a dromaeosaur, but in modern times all that most researchers will go as far as say is that Hulsanpes is some kind of maniraptoran … Read more