In Depth With a length of four meters Doedicurus is easily one of the larger members of the glyptodonts, armoured herbivores that are related to modern day armadillos. Like other glyptodonts, Doedicurus had an armoured shell made from osteoderms that grew to surround its body. This shell was most strongly fixed around the pelvis, with … Read more
In Depth Eomurruna is a genus of procolophonid parareptile that lived in Australia during the late Triassic. The tooth pattern of Eomurruna shows no collision of the teeth, which is a trait seen in other procolophonids that are thought to have been herbivorous. Even as a plant eater however, there is still a possibility that … Read more
In Depth Kelmayisaurus is a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. Kelmayisaurus is currently only known by partial upper and lower jaws, and because of this the exact size of Kelmayisaurus is still unknown. There are still reports of a second species named K. “grandis” approaching sizes of up … Read more
In Depth Hypsocormus was in essence a fish built for speed. The tail lobes were large and in approximate proportion to one another which meant that the tail was capable of providing strong forward thrusts for very little effort. Even more key to fast swimming however were the pectoral fins which are in the simplest … Read more
In Depth As a macronarian sauropod, Tehuelchesaurus is thought to have had a body form better for reaching up to high growing vegetation rather than sweeping across a broad area to browse upon low growing vegetation like a diplodocid. Although only known from South America, Tehuelchesaurus is actually thought to be very similar in form … Read more
In Depth Phyllodontosuchus is a genus of sphenosuchian crocodile that lived in Asia during the early Jurassic. Phyllodontosuchus had a heterodont dentition, meaning that the shape of the teeth differed according to their position in the mouth. The first few teeth in the mouth were conical in a similar fashion to most other crocodylomorphs, but … Read more
In Depth Yamatosaurus is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur that lived in Japan during the late Cretaceous. Yamatosaurus is considered to be a more primitive form of hadrosaur, and the discovery of this dinosaur seems to portray a picture of more basal hadrosaur forms existing in East Asia all the way into the late Cretaceous, … Read more
In Depth Like with Saltasaurus, Maxakalisaurus is a titanosaur known to have had bony plates called osteoderms (scutes) in the skin for additional protection from harm. The post cranial skeleton of Maxakalisaurus also hints at a relationship to other aeolsaurid genera such as Aeolosaurus, Gondwanatitan. Maxakalisaurus is one of the largest dinosaurs known to have … Read more
In Depth Martinavis is a genus of enantiornithine bird which lived during the late Cretaceous. So far Martinavis is known from several species, and fossils discovered in France, Argentina as well potential remains in the USA. If all these fossils are valid, then at a genus level, Martinavis would have been one of the most … Read more
In Depth Leaellynasaura has been named after the daughter of its discoverers (the amicagraphica part recognises the Friends of the Museum of Victoria and the National Geographic Society which supplied funding for the research), and represents a dinosaur that was adapted to life in the Antarctic conditions of the early Cretaceous. Although back then the … Read more