In Depth        Victoriaceros is a genus of extinct elamostherine†‬rhinoceros that lived in what is now Kenya during the mid Miocene.†‬The nasal horn of Victoriaceros has been noted as being particularly large.†‬Victoriaceros is named after Lake Victoria in Kenya which is near where the holotype remains were found.†‬The type species name means†… Read more
In Depth        Botucaraitherium is a genus of cynodont that lived in South America during the late Triassic. Further Reading -†‬A new prozostrodontian cynodont†(‬Therapsidaâ€) ‬from the Late Triassic Riograndia Assemblage Zone†(‬Santa Maria Supersequenceâ€) ‬of Southern Brazil.†‬-†‬Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciďż˝ncias†‬86â€(‬4â€)‬:1673-1691.†‬-†‬M.†‬B.†‬Soares,†‬A.†‬G.†‬Martinelli†& ‬T.†… Read more
In Depth        A limbless amphibian (aistopod), Ophiderpeton is believed to have lived in burrows from where it would hunt invertebrates. Ophiderpeton is well represented with specimens having up to 230 vertebrae. The skull has a reduced number of bones and the eyes face forward. Further Reading Further reading- On a Collection of Fossil Vertebrata, from … Read more
In Depth        The toothless beak of Shenzhoupterus is quite characteristic of the azdarchid line of pterosaurs and indicates a potentially carnivorous diet not restricted to fish. The skull of Shenzhoupterus is proportionately deep and the antorbital fenestra is especially large to accomodate this morphology. A convex shaped crest also rose up from the top of … Read more
In Depth        Platyhystrix stands out from the other amphibians of its group by possessing a sail on its back similar to the pelycosaurs Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus.†‬It is uncertain why Platyhystrix developed this sail,†‬but the genus may have been adapting to a similar reason as the aforementioned pelycosaurs,†‬indeed,†‬their fossils and those of … Read more
In Depth        The holotype fossils of Altirhinus were originally classified as a species of Iguanodon,†‬I.†‬orientalis back in†‬1952.†‬However Iguanodon has long suffered from the wastebasket taxon effect where remains of superficially similar dinosaurs have been attributed to the genus,†‬in part due to its long history and seemingly wide distribution of fossils … Read more
Classification confusion        Today the American lion is usually treated as a sub species of the African lion†(‬Panthera leoâ€) ‬which is why it is more commonly credited as Panthera leo atrox.†‬ However there are a large number of researchers who consider the American lion to be different enough from the African lion to give it … Read more
In Depth        Megamastax was named in†‬2014†‬and described upon the basis of jaw material from three different individuals.†‬The largest of these jaws has been established as being up to sixteen centimetres long,†‬and by scaling to similar sarcopterygiian fish yielded an estimate of a full body length around the one meter mark.†‬This … Read more
In Depth        Although best known from the Sivalik Hills,†‬Sivapithecus seems to have had a much broader geographical distribution.†‬This is in part down to fossils of other genera such as Ankarapithecus and Palaeopithecus being reassigned to Sivapithecus.†‬One genus in particular called Ramapithecus was previously heralded as an ancestor of humans,†‬but as more … Read more
In Depth        Archaeodobenus is an ancient relative of the walrus.†‬Unlike the walrus however,†‬Archaeodobenus did not have the large tusks that are the most familiar feature of†‬the walrus.†‬Instead,†‬Archaeodobenus simply had slightly enlarged canine teeth,†‬and†‬an overall appearance more similar to that of a sea lion. Further Reading -†‬A New … Read more