In Depth Abelisaur theropods ranged across much of the southern continents during the late Cretaceous and India certainly seems to have had its share of them. However when Indosaurus was fist named by Matley and von Huene in 1933, the abelisaurs were still an unknown group of theropods, which is why they initially described Indosaurus … Read more
In Depth Lusitanosaurus is widely regarded as a dubious genus because of the lack of fossils that were used to describe it. The maxilla in question was originally thought to be from a stegosaur, but today it is considered to be from an ankylosaurian. Beyond this it is hard to infer anything further other than … Read more
In Depth Paradaphoenus acquired its name from its superficial similarity to another bear dog called Daphoenus. Depending upon the palaeontologist, Paradaphoenus has been assigned a more general position within the Amphicyonidae, as well as a more precise classification within the Daphoeninae, the group named after Daphoenus. At almost two kilos Paradaphoenus was one of the … Read more
In Depth Yuanchuavis is a genus of enantiornithine bird that lived in Asia during the early Cretaceous. Yuanchuavis is confirmed to have had two elongated retrices (flight feathers) in the tail. Melanosome sampling of the holotype fossil suggests that the elongated retrices would have been black in life, while the remaining tail feathers either iridescent … Read more
In Depth Maiabalaena is a genus of whale that lived in waters around North America during the Oligocene period. Maiabalaena is noted for having neither teeth nor baleen, with the genus describers postulating that whales may have lost teeth before developing baleen. Maiabalaena is thought to have been a suction feeder, opening its mouth wide … Read more
In Depth Wannchampsus is a genus of very small crocodile that lived in North America in the latter periods of the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - Small crocodyliform from the Lower Cretaceous (late Aptian) of central Texas and its systematic relationship to the evolution of Eusuchia. - Journal of Paleontology 88(5):1031-1049. - T. L. Adams … Read more
In Depth Thalattoarchon was a genus of primitive ichthyosaur that stands out as one of the earliest marine reptiles to be an apex predator of large aquatic organisms. What this means is that rather than focusing upon small prey like shoaling fish and squid like smaller ichthyosaurs, Thalattoarchon most probably hunted the smaller ichthyosaurs themselves … Read more
In Depth Although Effigia resembles and ornithomimid dinosaur, it is thought that this is just a case of convergent evolution. Later studies have suggested that Effigia is the same creature as the archosaur Chatterjeea and that both are synonymous with the archosaur Shuvosaurus. The type specimen is named after the renowned artist Georgia O’Keeffe, whose … Read more
In Depth Lisboasaurus is a genus of crocodylomorph that lived in Portugal during the late Jurassic. A former species of Lisboasaurus, L. mitracostatus, has now been re-assigned to its own genus, Lusitanisuchus. Further Reading - Upper Jurassic lizards from central Portugal. Contribui��o para o conhecimento da Fauna do Kimerridgiano da Mina de Lignito Guimarota (Leiria, … Read more
In Depth Incakujira is a genus of rorqual whale known to have lived in the waters around South America during the Miocene. As a filter feeder, Incakujira probably filtered out small crustaceans such as krill from the sea water as it swam. Further Reading - A new Miocene baleen whale from the Peruvian desert. - … Read more