In Depth Lagerpeton is a very primitive dinosauromorph that lived in South America during the early Triassic. So primitive is Lagerpeton that it is easily among the most basal dinosauromorphs that we currently know about. Several features can be observed in the known Lagerpeton material including neural spins on the dorsal vertebrae that are slanting … Read more
In Depth Cathayopterus is another member of the filter feeding group of pterosaurs that are known from all over the world with particularly notable genera hailing from South America (Pterodaustro) and Europe (Ctenochasma). Further Reading – Pterosaur assemblages of the Jehol Biota and their implication for the Early Cretaceous pterosaur radiation. – Geological Journal. 41 … Read more
In Depth Dactylosaurus was one of the smallest known pachypleurosaurs, a group of marine reptiles with close associations to the nothosaurs, though opinions differ on if they should belong within the Nothosauroidea or be separate to them. Dactylosaurus may have been fed upon by other marine reptiles and large fish such as primitive sharks like … Read more
In Depth The change from a terrestrial to more aquatic life that began with Pakicetus through Ambulocetus continued with the further developments of Protocetus. The front limbs still had webbed toes, but the rear limbs were already greatly reduced in size to the point of them being vestigial. The caudal vertebrae towards the end of … Read more
In Depth Fostoria is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in Australia during the Cretaceous. Further reading - Fostoria dhimbangunmal, gen. et sp. nov., a new iguanodontian (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda) from the mid-Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 39(1):e1564757:1-18. - P. R. Bell, T. Brougham, M. C. Herne, … Read more
In Depth Based upon the description of a partial skull, the validity of the Stormbergia genus has been questioned as some have proposed that the skull may represent the fully grown adult form of Lesothosaurus. If this is correct then Stormbergia would actually be a synonym to Lesothosaurus. Further Reading - The ‘fabrosaurid’ ornithischian dinosaurs … Read more
In Depth Khoratosuchus is a genus of crocodile that lived in Thailand during the Cretaceous. Further Reading - Khoratosuchus jintasakuli gen. et sp. nov., an advanced neosuchian crocodyliform from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) of NE Thailand. Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic Ecosystems in SE Asia. - The Geological Society of London, Special Publication 315:175-187. - K. … Read more
In Depth Otodus was bigger than any other carnivorous fish in the sea today, being one and half times bigger than the largest recorded great white shark. This large size however does not mean that Otodus was an apex predator as it would have had to share the seas with other predators such as Basilosaurus, … Read more
In Depth Chenanisaurus is a genus of abelisaurid dinosaur that lived in North Africa towards the end of the Cretaceous period. Chenanisaurus is named from the description of a partial lower jaw, and while this does not give us much to go on, it does reveal a few things. While the jaw is incomplete, it … Read more
In Depth Technosaurus is in simple terms a mess. Described in 1984 by Sankar Chatterjee from an astralgus (ankle bone), a dorsal (back) vertebrae, two lower jaws and a premaxilla, Techonosaurus was heralded as the earliest ornithischian (bird hipped) dinosaur of the time. Then in 1991another palaeontologist named Paul Sereno re-examined the fossils, a study … Read more