In Depth        Kourisodon was first described from fossil remains discovered in British Columbia,†‬though since this time more partial remains from Japan have been attributed to the genus.†‬Not only does this significantly expand upon the known geographical range of Kourisodon,†‬but it indicates that Kourisodon existed from the Santonian of the Canadian deposits,†‬all … Read more
In Depth        Elbretornis is a genus of enantiornithine bird that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading -†‬Euenantiornithine birds from the Late Cretaceous of El Brete†(‬Argentinaâ€)‬.†‬-†‬Irish Journal of Earth Sciences†‬27:15-62.†‬-†‬C.†‬A.†‬Walker†& ‬G.†‬J.†‬Dyke†‬-†‬2009.
In Depth        After Stegosaurus itself,†‬Kentrosaurus is easily the best known of the stegosaurs.†Many herbivores were known to have herded,†‬and support for this in Kentrosaurus comes from the massive collection of bones from the†‬Tendaguru beds.†‬Like other Stegosaurs,†‬Kentrosaurus was considered to be a low browser,†‬although itâ€â€™â€¬s considered possible for Kentrosaurus … Read more
In Depth        Macrosqualodelphis is a genus of river dolphin that is known to have lived in waters of Peruvian South America during the Miocene. Further Reading -†‬A new large squalodelphinid†(‬Cetacea,†‬Odontocetiâ€) ‬from Peru sheds light on the Early Miocene platanistoid disparity and ecology.†‬-†‬Royal Society Open Science†‬5â€(‬4â€)‬:172302.†‬-†‬G.†‬Bianucci,†‬G.†… Read more
In Depth        Since the closing decades of the twentieth century literally thousands of fossil bones of hadrosaurid dinosaurs have been found in Alaska.†‬Initially considered to be lambeosaurines†(‬the type with bony head crestsâ€)‬,†‬there were later determined to be saurolophines,†‬specifically similar to Edmontosaurus.†‬Most of these remains however have come from juveniles which … Read more
In Depth        Varanodon was a genus of pelycosaur that lived in the USA during the Permian period.†‬Varanodon should not be confused with the similarly named Varanops and Varanosaurus,†‬two other genera of closely related pelycosaurs. Further Reading -†‬New Permian vertebrates from the Chickasha Formation in Oklahoma.†‬Circular Oklahoma Geological Survey†‬70:1-70.†‬-†‬E.†… Read more
In Depth        Phosphorosaurus is a genus of halisaurine mosasaur known to have lived during the latest stage of the Cretaceous.†‬Halisaurine mosasaurs like Phosphorosaurus were the smaller end of the scale in terms of size,†‬but would have been fast and nimble predators of other creatures such as fish and perhaps cephalopods such as squid. … Read more
In Depth        Although only known from teeth, these have confirmed that Kogiopsis is an extinct sperm whale. The teeth of Kogiopsis had crowns that were between three and five centimetres long, and may have been used against other marine mammals such as smaller whales. The teeth of Kogiopsis are often available to buy through fossil … Read more
In Depth        The name Libycosaurus is definitely a misnomer to be sure.†‬When Libycosaurus was first named by Bonarelli in†‬1947†‬the partial fossil remains were thought to be those of a dinosaur.†‬It was only later that it was realised that Libycosaurus was actually a kind of prehistoric relative of hippopotamuses.†‬At the time … Read more
In Depth        The type genus of the Pachypleurosauria,†‬Pachypleurosaurus would have been a relative of the more famous nothosaurs,†‬yet still be distinct enough to not be classed as a nothosaurine.†‬It should be remembered however that both nothosaurines and pachypleurosaurines are still both classified as nothosauroids due to their physical similarities.        The name Pachypleurosaurus … Read more