In Depth Initially thought to be one of the most primitive birds in the fossil record, later studies have depicted Jinfengopteryx as a small troodontid theropod dinosaur. This new interpretation has been derived from observation of the form of the skull and the presence of an enlarged sickle claw on the second toe of each … Read more
In Depth Originally named as a species of Steneosaurus, S. obtusidens was renamed as a distinct genus in 2017. The describers created the name Lemmysuchus which means ‘Lemmy’s crocodile’. This was in honour of Ian Fraser Kilmister, the lead singer and founder of the band Mot�rhead, who everyone knew as Lemmy. Lemmysuchus was a thalattosuchian, … Read more
In Depth Struthiosaurus seems to have been fairly common across Europe during the Late Cretaceous, a time when much of continental Europe was more like an island chain. Originally based upon fragmentary Austrian material, many genera named by Harry Govier Seeley late in the nineteenth century have now been synonymised with Struthiosaurus. This combined with … Read more
In Depth Named in 2016 from a single specimen, Viavenator is another of the growing number of South American abelisaurid dinosaurs that are known to us. At a glance Viavenator does not seem to be anything special apart from being another abelisaur, however the authors of the paper describing this dinosaur have identified a combination … Read more
In Depth Fossils of the dinocephalian genus Tapinocephalus are fairly common within the Lower Beaufort Beds, that the location where fossils of the genus are known is actually called the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone. Tapinocephalus seems to have been a successful genus of Tapinocephalus given the large number of remains, and superficially the genus resembles Moschops. … Read more
In Depth Gamerabaena is a genus of baenid turtle that lived in North America towards the end of the Cretaceous period. Gamerabaena is named after the fictional kaiju Gamera, a gigantic turtle-like monster that has featured in a whole series of Japanese monster films in a similar fashion as Godzilla. Further Reading - A new … Read more
In Depth With the possible exception of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), Megatherium is arguably the most famous of the giant mammals that once roamed this planet after the decline of the dinosaurs. Megatherium was also one of the last to disappear with remains appearing in the fossil record until as recently as the start … Read more
In Depth Although the Cretalamna shark genus is extinct today, there is no doubt that it was one of the most successful of all shark genera. Fossils of Cretalamna (mostly of teeth and vertebrae) are known from all over the world and range from the early Cretaceous to the mid Miocene in age, making Cretalamna one of the most widely distributed … Read more
In Depth Deltaherpeton is a genus of temnospondyl amphibian that lived in what is now the USA during the Carboniferous. Deltaherpeton is noted as having a similarity to both Colosteus and Pholidogaster. Further Reading - Deltaherpeton hiemstrae, a new colosteid tetrapod from the Mississippian of Iowa. - Journal of Paleontology 84(6):1135-1151. - J. R. Bolt … Read more
In Depth In the simplest terms, the Haast’s Eagle is in essence, a giant eagle, and one that focused upon hunting only the largest prey available to prehistoric New Zealand: the large flightless moa birds. Isolated remains and estimates of them suggest that the largest Haast’s Eagles could attain a wingspan of up to three meters … Read more