In Depth Although the name Anodontosaurus means ‘toothless lizard’, the teeth were only lost when the holotype skull of Anodontosaurus became compressed during fossilisation. Anodontosaurus was once synonymised with the genus Euoplocephalus, but a re-description of Dyoplosaurus in 2009 by Arbour et al. (also once synonymised with Euoplocephalus) led to the original Anodontosaurus fossils being … Read more
In Depth Features of this cetaceans fossils indicate that Mammalodon was a baleen whale, although surprisingly it did not actually have baleen but instead well-developed teeth. Since it could not feed like baleen whales, Mammalodon must have done something different although what is uncertain. There is however one theory that suggests Mammalodon may have sifted … Read more
In Depth Fedexia was discovered in 2004 by Adam Striegal, a university student at the time. It acquired its name because the land it was discovered on was owned by the FedEx Corporation. When first examined, Fedexia was mistaken for a fern because of the arrangement of teeth. Study by Charles Jones, the class lecturer, … Read more
In Depth Ajnabia is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian period towards the end of the Cretaceous period. Ajnabia made headlines in the paleontological world when it was described as this represented the first time that hadrosaurid dinosaur fossils had been found in Africa. Hadrosaurid dinosaurs were for a long … Read more
In Depth Although Hyaenodon translates as ‘hyena tooth’ the only similarities between Hyaenodon and hyenas are the facts that they are both mammals and they both eat meat. Beyond this they are completely different animals with hyenas being more closely related to cats and Hyaenodon actually being a creodont, a long extinct group of mammals … Read more
In Depth When first described in 1953, Dimacrodon was thought to be an anomodont therapsid. Later analysis however has suggested that the partial remains of Dimacrodon night actual be those of a pelycosaur. Further Reading - The San Angelo Formation, Permian of Texas, and its Vertebrates. - Journal of Geology 61(5):389-423. - E. C. Olson … Read more
In Depth Charassognathus is a genus of cynodont therapsid that lived in South Africa during the late Permian. Further Reading - The oldest cynodont: new clues on the origin and early diversification of the Cynodontia. - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 149(3):477-492. - J. Botha, F. Abdala & R. M. H. Smith - 2007.
In Depth Alioramus has stirred a lot of interest and controversy since its discovery, and even though Alioramus has earned worldwide popularity it was for a long time only known from a partial skull and three metatarsals (foot bones). Another problem was the fact that when reconstructed, the skull was narrow and low like in … Read more
Discovery & Reconstruction Spinosaurus as we know it today did not begin to come into existence until the 1990’s, something that is quite surprising when you think that it was first described in 1915. The reason for this is that there has been no choice but to study only the most partial of remains, a … Read more
In Depth At 1.4 meters long, Tylocephale was towards the smaller end of the size scale for a pachycephalosaur. Despite this, Tylocephale managed to evolve the tallest head dome of any currently known pachycephalosaur genera. Tylocephale also likely shared its habitat with the larger pachycephalosaur Prenocephale. Further Reading - Pachycephalosauria, a new suborder of ornithischian … Read more