In Depth Orodromeus was a small ornithopod dinosaur of the late Cretaceous that had boss-like growths on the jugals (cheek bones). Orodromeus has been considered to be similar to another small ornithopod named Oryctodromeus, which itself is considered to have been a burrowing dinosaur. It is still not known for certain if Orodromeus burrowed and … Read more
In Depth Wunyelfia is a genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur that lived in waters around South America during the late Cretaceous. Further reading - Wunyelfia maulensis gen. et sp. nov., a new basal aristonectine (Plesiosauria, Elasmosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of central Chile. - Cretaceous Research. 118: Article 104651. - Rodrigo A. Otero & Sergio Soto-Acu�a … Read more
In Depth Selenemys is a genus of turtle that lived in Portugal during the late Jurassic. Further Reading - Selenemys lusitanica, gen. et. sp. nov., a new pleurosternid turtle (Terstudines: Paracryptodira) from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31(1):60-69. - A. Perez-Garcia & F. Ortega - 2011.
In Depth Eidolosaurus is a genus of mosasaur that lived during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - Eidolosaurus und Pachyophis, Zwei neue Neocom-Reptilien. - Palaeontographica (55)97-154. - F. Nopcsa - 1923.
In Depth Yamaceratops is a genus of primitive ceratopsian dinosaur that when first described was thought to have lived in the early Cretaceous, though later study has now revealed Yamaceratops to have lived during the late Cretaceous. Yamaceratops is named after Yama, a Tibetan Buddhist deity combined ‘ceratops’ which means horned face. Further Reading - … Read more
In Depth Mantellisaurus was originally described as a species of Iguanodon, I. atherfieldensis, but in 2007 Gregory S. Paul renamed the species as new genus. Paul chose the name Mantellisaurus in honour of Gideon Mantell, the man who discovered and named Iguanodon. Mantellisaurus was capable of movement in either a quadrupedal or bipedal posture, and … Read more
In Depth A fairly small lobe-finned fish, Osteolepis is noted for having heavy bony scales, features that may have helped with buoyancy issues. Even more interesting though was an outer covering of cosmine, a slightly spongy bony material that is known to have covered the scales of lobe-finned fish. This cosmine had a series of … Read more
In Depth Dipterus is a genus of early lungfish that for a long time was thought only to have lived in Europe during the Devonian period. However, since another genus of fish named Catopterus became treated as a synonym to the genus, it now seems that the Dipterus existed all the way to the late … Read more
In Depth Discosaurus is a genus of plesiosaur that is known to have swam in the waters of the Western Interior Seaway during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - [Descriptions of a number of fossil reptiles and mammals] . - Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 5:325-328. - J. Leidy - 1851. … Read more
In Depth Stolokrosuchus is a genus of crocodile that lived in Africa during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new Early Cretaceous crocodyliform from Niger. - Neues Jahrbuch f�r Geologie und Pal�ontologie, Abhandlungen 217(1):131-141. - H. C. E. Larsson & B. Gado - 2000.