In Depth Himalayasaurus was named after the Himalaya Mountains where the holotype material was first discovered. The description of Himalayasaurus was based upon very incomplete post cranial remains and most interestingly teeth that were unlike any other Triassic aged ichthyosaur that had been seen at the time. These teeth were larger, more flattened and with … Read more
In Depth Hagryphus is another one of those dinosaur genera that teases us about a prospect of being unusually large, yet known only from partial remains, in this case a hand. At about thirty centimetres long this hand is larger than that known for any other oviraptosaur with the sole current exception of Gigantoraptor. This … Read more
In Depth Brasilitherium is a genus of small insectivorous cynodont that lived in Brazil during the late Triassic. Brasilitherium was named alongside another similar cynodont called Brasilodon. Further Reading - The sister group of mammals: small cynodonts from the Late Triassic of southern Brazil. - Revista Brasileira de Paleontolog�a 5:5-27. - J. F. Bonaparte, A. … Read more
In Depth Llukalkan is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. As with other dinosaurs of its kind, Llukalkan would have been a predator. Though the holotype skull of Llukalkan is fragmentary, analysis of the inner ear has revealed that Llukalkan might have had better hearing than … Read more
In Depth Potangaspis is a genus of arthrodire placoderm fish that lived in China during the Devonian. Further Reading - A new antarctaspid arthrodire (placoderm fish) from the Lower Devonian of Guangxi, China. - Vertebrata PalAsiatica 48 (2): 101–110. - Zhu Min, Wang Jun-Qing & Wang Shi-Tao - 2010.
In Depth Daxiatitan is another one of the really big early Cretaceous sauropods from China. The holotype remains are considered to be from an individual twenty-one meters long, though Daxiatitan is also thought to have possibly also grown bigger than this. Daxiatitan was named after branch of the Huang He River. Another large sauropod with … Read more
In Depth The skull of Euconcordia was originally described as Concordia in 2005. However, it was later established that Concordia had already been used, so in 2016 the skull was renamed Euconcordia. Whereas concordia roughly translates from Latin to English as ‘harmony’, Euconcordia would simply mean ‘true harmony’. Euconcordia lived in North America during the … Read more
In Depth Anyone interested in the temnospondyl amphibians would do well to study the Sclerocephalus genus, as it is one of the few temnospondyl genera which actually gives us definitive clues about the lifestyles of these amphibians. There are many individuals of Sclerocephalus known, and between then various life stages are represented. When newly hatched, … Read more
In Depth Palvennia is a genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur that is noted for having a very short rostrum. The orbit (skull opening for the eye) also seems quite large, though the original describers have noted that this may be due to the specimen being crushed while it was being fossilised. Ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs are noted for … Read more
In Depth Fadenia is a genus of cartilaginous fish that belongs within the Eugeneodontida, a group that contains very bizarre forms such as Edestus, Helicoprion and Sarcoprion. Although popularly dubbed sharks, the eugeneodonts are usually placed within the Holocephali, a group distinct from sharks (that are classed within the Elasmobranchii) that also includes the cartilaginous … Read more