In Depth When looking up what is the biggest dinosaur, people usually get presented with the image of a sauropod, but the exact owner of this title depends upon a number of factors, particularly the definition of largest be it by length, height or weight. Although incomplete, Sauroposeidon is thought to be one of the … Read more
In Depth Repenomamus was a fairly large mammal for the early Cretaceous, and one that was different from known therians in that the body was larger with proportionately shorter legs. The large size and the teeth of Repenomamus led to early suggestions that the genus was carnivorous. However it was the naming of the larger … Read more
In Depth ‘Wing snout’ may be an unusual name, but this one is in reference to the tall head crest of Pterorhynchus, which in itself is unusual by its very presence in a rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur. This crest rose up from where the nostrils began, rising at a steep angle before curving round to join the … Read more
In Depth Nullotitan is a genus of titanosaurian dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. With an estimated length of around twenty meters long for the holotype individual, Nullotitan was a big dinosaur, but a medium average amongst other titanosaurs. Further Reading - Paleontological discoveries in the Chorrillo Formation (upper Campanian-lower Maastrichtian, … Read more
In Depth Guanlong is well-known among palaeontological circles as the first tyrannosaur, although new discoveries in the future may take this epithet away from Guanlong. The discovery of Guanlong lends support to the theory that the early origins of the tyrannosaurs can be traced back to Asia. From here fossil evidence from the discovery of … Read more
In Depth Fukuiraptor is a dinosaur that really does not deserve the ‘raptor’ part of its name. This is because when it was discovered, one of the large hand claws was interpreted as being a ‘killing claw’ on the second toe, similar to other dromaeosaurids that have the epithet raptor. Later analysis resulted in a … Read more
In Depth Stenopterygius is yet another example of a genus that once had a large number of species assigned to it only for most of these to now be regarded as synonyms to other previously named species. In addition while some of the remains of one species, S. hauffianus were reassigned to the type species … Read more
In Depth Although not as large as Megatherium, Glossotherium was one of the largest known ground sloths in North America, though not as large as Eremotherium. Even though Glossoherium is known from across the USA and Mexico however, its full geographical distribution extends into South America all the way down into Argentina. Like other ground … Read more
In Depth Thapunngaka is a genus of pterosaur that lived in Australia during the early Cretaceous. The holotype of Thapunngaka is the anterior section of a lower jaw, and this makes establishing the body form and size of Thapunngaka very difficult and impossible to do with certainty. However, Thapunngaka does seem to have been a … Read more
In Depth Suzhousaurus is a medium sized genus of therizinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. There is some speculation that Suzhousaurus may be the same genus as another therizinosaur named Nanshiungosaurus. However, because there is little if any overlapping fossil material, it is at the time of writing impossible to say for … Read more