In Depth With a skull a little over eight centimetres long Nochnitsa is one of the smallest known grogonopsian therapsids known. Whereas the larger gorgonopsids were apex predators, Nochnitsa may have lived more like a modern day fox, hunting smaller creatures while evading the more dangerous ones. Further Reading - Gorgonopsian therapsids (Nochnitsa gen. nov. … Read more
Voay: Research Database Theropoda · Cretaceous · Unknown Research Note: Voay was a theropoda from the Cretaceous of Unknown, providing important data on prehistoric life and ecosystem dynamics. Research Finding Status Grade Year Method Citation Impact Hekkala Gatesy Narechania 2021: Voay and related taxa Communications Biology Confirmed B 2021 Fossil Hekkala Gatesy Narechania, … Read more
Isisfordia: Research Database Mesozoic · Fossil Record Research Note: Isisfordia was a significant fossil species providing important data on vertebrate evolution. Research Finding Status Grade Year Method Citation Impact Hart 2020: Isisfordia and crocodyliform diversity in the Cretaceous PeerJ Confirmed A 2020 Fossil Hart, PeerJ Diversity Larsson & Gado 2000: New data on … Read more
In Depth Narindasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in Madagascar during the mid Jurassic. Fossils of this dinosaur were first discovered in 1906, but were not given their own distinct genus till 2020. Before that time they had still been studied, with growth ring analysis suggesting that this sauropod dinosaur did not … Read more
Westlothiana: Research Database Theropoda · Cretaceous · Unknown Research Note: Westlothiana was a theropoda from the Cretaceous of Unknown, providing important data on prehistoric life and ecosystem dynamics. Research Finding Status Grade Year Method Citation Impact Smithson Carroll Panchen 1993: Westlothiana and related taxa Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society … Read more
In Depth Anasazisaurus is currently only known from a single skull, but one that has a flange of bone rising from the top of its snout. Because this crest is solid, Anasazisaurus has been identified as a saurolophine hadrosaurid. The skull of Anasazisaurus was once attributed to the genus Kritosaurus, but because the skull contains … Read more
In Depth Atrociraptor has been described from very incomplete remains, but two clear observations can be made about this dinosaur. One is that the snout appears to be both deeper and shorter than most other dromaeosaurs, something that could indicate a strong bite due to larger muscles and the outer teeth being placed closer to … Read more
In Depth Very little is known about Asiaceratops because the currently known fossils of this dinosaur are so fragmentary that some researchers have even questioned the validity of the genus. Further Reading - [Mesozoic ceratopsian dinosaurs and crocodiles of central Asia]. In: Bogdanova and Khozatskii (eds.), Theoretical and Applied Aspects of Modern Palaeontology pp 144-154. … Read more
In Depth Anomocephalus is considered to be a very basal anomodont, and one observation more than any other proves this; Anomocephalus had a full set of teeth in both jaws. The dicynodont descendants of creatures like Anomocephalus would go on to have just two large tusks, and in a few cases, no teeth at all. … Read more
Samrukia: Research Database Reptilia (Pterosauria) · Late Cretaceous (~70 MYA) · Asia — Kyrgyzstan Research Note: Samrukia was a pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan) — significant for being one of the few named pterosaurs from this region and for its large size estimate, suggesting it may have been among the … Read more