In Depth While loricatan paracrocodylomorphs are fairly well known from the Santa maria Formation, Dagasuchus is the first rauisuchian genus known from the Santacruzodon assemblage zone, something which has enabled this genus to fill an evolutionary gap. So far Dagasuchus is only known from a partial hip which make reconstructions fairly difficult. However since the … Read more
In Depth The discovery of Pterodaustro was a fantastic find, as not only was it the first pterosaur to be discovered in South America, here was a pterosaur that filtered for food in a similar manner to a modern day flamingo. This is evidenced by the strongly upwards curing beak that instead of having more … Read more
In Depth A close relative of the better known ceratopsian dinosaur Leptoceratops, Prenoceratops can be told apart by the skull which has a greater slope to the skull than that seen in Leptoceratops. Further Reading - Description of Prenoceratops pieganensis gen et sp. nov. (Dinosauria: Neoceratopsia) from the Two Medicine Formation of Montana. - Journal … Read more
In Depth There is little doubt that Paralititan sits comfortably amongst some of the biggest sauropod dinosaurs that are known to us. Though the skeleton of Paralititan is largely incomplete, the humerus (upper ‘arm’ bone) is known to have reached a length of one hundred and sixty-nine centimetres long, something that at the time of … Read more
In Depth Yutyrannus is a good example of a tyrannosaur that had feathers, although it is not the first or only known tyrannosaur to have had feathers like some news reports claimed at the time of its discovery. The first tyrannosaur to be feathered was actually Dilong which was named in 2004 and is … Read more
In Depth As a member of the Brontornithinae group of terror birds Physornis was one of the larger and more robust members of the larger group, the Phorusrhacidae. As such it would have been related to Paraphysornis and Brontornis, and living during the Oligocene it was one of the earliest terror birds to roam and … Read more
In Depth The holotype specimen of Cearadactylus was not dug out of the ground by a dedicated research team, but was instead purchased from fossil dealers in Italy in 1983. Unfortunately these fossil dealers made several mistakes in rebuilding the fossil, including mistaking the front of the lower jaw for the snout and setting it … Read more
In Depth Malerisaurus is a genus of protorosauri known to have lived in India during the late Triassic period. There are a lot of questions about how members of this genus lived since there are no clear adaptations pointing towards one ecological niche over another. The discovery of the two Malerisaurus specimens however have been … Read more
In Depth As a genus Sinoconodon represents one of the most primitive mammaliaforms currently known to science. There were once four species of Sinoconodon named, but it was eventually realised that all of these fossils represented individuals of the same species but at different growth stages. Only the type species, S. rigneyi today remains valid. … Read more
In Depth Tetraceratops has proven a headache for palaeontologists since its discovery, as it is either a pelycosaur, or potentially an early form of the coming therapsids that would displace the pelycosaurs as dominant predators. Evidence to support the therapsid theory comes from similarities in the temporal fenestra between Tetraceratops and biarmarosuchians, primitive therapsids that … Read more