In Depth Platygonus is an extinct genus of peccary, a kind of artiodactyl mammal that is similar to a pig in physical appearance and ecological niche, yet is of a completely separate family. With larger Platygonus approaching one meter in length, they were quite a bit larger than modern peccaries. Platygonus may have been hunted … Read more
In Depth Orientognathus is a genus of pterosaur that lived in China during the mid Jurassic. Further Reading - A new rhamphorhynchid pterosaur (Pterosauria) from Jurassic deposits of Liaoning Province, China. - Zootaxa 3911(1):119-129. - J. Lu, H. Pu, X. Wei, H. Chang & M. Kundrat - 2015.
In Depth For well over a hundred years Proganochelys was regarded as the oldest known turtle, a title the genus held until the 2008 description of Odontochelys, a slightly earlier genus that lived in the Carnian stage of the Triassic. Proganochelys had a developed carapace and plastron, the upper and lower parts of the shell … Read more
In Depth Opisthodactylus is an extinct genus of rhea (a type of flightless bird similar to an emu) that lived in South America during the Miocene. Further Reading - New fossil bird remains from the Chichinales Formation (Early Miocene) of northern Patagonia, Argentina. - Annales de Pal�ontologie. - Federico L. Agnolin & Pablo Chafrat - … Read more
In Depth The dinosaur genus Titanosaurus is a bit of a paradox. As the first titanosaur named it is treated as the type genus of the Titanosauria, a group of more advanced sauropod dinosaurs that began to appear at the end of the Jurassic and later established themselves as some of the most common types … Read more
In Depth Originally assigned as a species of Platypterygius, Kyhytysuka is a genus of ichthyosaur that lived in waters around South America during the Early Cretaceous. Kyhytysuka is loosely described as a hyper carnivore, and this is because of many observations that can be made for the skull and teeth. In Kyhytysuka the teeth are … Read more
In Depth Piceoerpeton was a genus of large prehistoric salamander that that lived in North America from the late Creaceous to the early Eocene. Further Reading A new cryptobranchid salamander from the Early Eocene of Wyoming. – Copeia 1967(2):346-349 – C. A. M. Meszoely – 1967. – Revision of Piceoerpeton Meszoely (Caudata: Scapherpetontidae) and description … Read more
In Depth Prodicynodon is a genus of dicynodont therapsid from Africa. Further Reading - On two new endothiodont genera (Prodicynodon and Opisthoctenodon). - Records of the Albany Museum 1:69-73. - Robert Broom - 1904. – CT reconstruction and systematic position of the enigmatic dicynodont Prodicynodon beaufortensis. – Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34(3, Supplement): 194–195. – … Read more
In Depth Patagosaurus is one of the earliest sauropods known to have roamed South America, however it’s usually the Cretaceous genera such as Amargasaurus, Saltasaurus and Argentinosaurus that usually get all of the attention. At eighteen meters long Patagosaurus was big for a mid-Jurassic era sauropod, yet it was not as advanced as the sauropods … Read more
In Depth The name Eobothus is a reference to the earlier appearance of this genus to the modern genus Bothus, a type of flounder. Eobothus had a very similar body form, with the body being compressed flat so that it could blend into the sandy bottom of the ocean floor and rely upon its camouflage … Read more