In Depth Thoracosaurus is a medium-large gharial-like crocodile that lived during the late Cretaceous through to the Paleocene. Fossils of Thoracosaurus are usually associated with North American and European fossil deposits, but remains from other places such as India have also been reported. The sheer number of Thoracosaurus fossils seems to indicate that the genus … Read more
In Depth Dicynodontoides is a genus of dicynodont that lived during the Permian. So far D. recurvidens is known from South Africa, while D. nowacki is known from Tanzania. Further Reading - Die Anomodontier des Ruhuhu-Gebietes in der T�binger Sammlung [Anomodontia of Ruhuhu valley in the collection of T�bingen]. - Palaeontographica Abteilung A 94:154-184. - … Read more
In Depth Usually identified as an anomodont, Galechirus has also been considered by some to possibly represent a dicynodont. In general appearance, Galechirus seems to have looked more like a regular lizard than your typical therapsid, which may indicate the Galechirus genus was a late surviving primitive form. Further Reading - On Some New Fossil … Read more
In Depth Tianchisaurus was originally dubbed (but never officially named) Jurassosaurus because in the same year that it was named, the very first Jurassic park film was released. Incidentally, the name Jurassosaurus was suggested by Steven Spielberg who produced and directed the film. Dong rejected the name Jurassosaurus in favour of Tianchisaurus, but kept the … Read more
In Depth First named in 2006, Razanandrongobe has largely been a mystery for researchers as the genus was only known from partial upper jaw bones. This made details about what kind of animal Razanandrongobe was very difficult to establish other than it was from some large kind of archosaur. However, new remains discovered and described … Read more
In Depth Titanosaurs like most sauropod dinosaurs are usually only known from partial remains such as one or two legs, a sequence of vertebrae or the occasional isolated skull. This is because their inherent large size makes it unlikely that the whole body will be buried and preserved before scavengers and environmental effects scatter the … Read more
In Depth Sarcoprion appears to have been a similar kind of shark as the bizarre Helicoprion, but instead of having a circular ‘tooth-whorl’ like Helicoprion, Sarcoprion had more of a semi-circular whorl set upon its lower jaw. Sarcoprion may have rubbed this feature against prey that was pressed against the upper jaw, the lower teeth … Read more
In Depth Originally known as Drepanodon, fossils of this mammal were renamed Hoplophoneus by Edward Drinker Cope in 1874. Although resembling a big cat, Hoplophoneus was actually one of the nimravids, more popularly known as the ‘false sabre-toothed cats’. Nimravids were descended from an early off shoot of the carnivora and were actively hunting long … Read more
In Depth Dracopristis is a genus of ctenacanthiforme fish that lived in North America during the Carboniferous period. The ctenacanthiforme fish are generally considered to be like sharks but are also separate from ‘true sharks’ the kind that we can see swimming around today. Dracopristis like other ctenacanthiforme fish had two large spines rising from … Read more
In Depth Dicraeosaurid sauropods (as typified by Dicraeosaurus) are noted for having proportionately shorter necks, but even out of all these Brachytrachelopan has the shortest. This is in stark contrast to other sauropod types in other parts of the world such as Mamenchisaurus and Sauroposiedon which all show a progression towards a longer neck specialisation. … Read more