In Depth While Machairodus possesses enlarged canine fangs they seem to be intermediate between regular sized canines and the larger canines exhibited by other similar cats. These teeth combined with squat proportions and a robust physique has led to speculation that Machairodus’s hunting behaviour was that of an ambush predator. The popular depiction of Machairodus … Read more
In Depth Usually considered to be a primitive fish with an elongate eel-like body, there is no universal agreement into what Palaeospondylus actually was. In the past Palaeospondylus has been proposed to be a larval lungfish, unarmoured placoderm, an arthrodire, a chimaera and even a larval tetrapod. A primitive fish that might be similar … Read more
In Depth Nitosaurus is a genus of pelycosaur that lived in North America during the late Carboniferous. Further Reading - New genera and species of pelycosaurian reptiles. - Proceedings of the New England Zo�logical Club 16:89-95. - A. S. Romer - 1937.
In Depth Hemipristis is a genus of weasel shark which includes the extinct species H. serra, H. curvatus and H. wyattdurhami, although the most popular species by far is H. serra. The last surviving member of the Hemipristis genus is H. elongata, better known as the Snaggletooth shark. H. serra seems to have been a … Read more
In Depth Siriusgnathus is a genus of cynodont that lived in South America during the Late Triassic. Further Reading - A new Upper Triassic cynodont-bearing fossiliferous site from southern Brazil, with taphonomic remarks and description of a new traversodontid taxon. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 88:179-196. - A. E. B. Pavanatto, F. A. Pretto, … Read more
In Depth Manidens is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur that lived in Argentina during the Late Cretaceous. As a heterodontosaurid dinosaur, Manidens had a combination of differently formed teeth within the mouth, and for this reason Manidens is often considered to have been omnivorous, however, so far no stomach contents have been identified to confirm … Read more
In Depth Trilophosaurus was quite a large genus of diapsid reptile that seems to have been like a particularly large Iguana in not only terms of general appearance but ecological niche. Trilophosaurus was a quadrupedal diapsid with a low slung body and a tail that made up over half of the total length. The skull … Read more
In Depth Dating from the Bathonian period, Kileskus is even older than Guanlong making it a contender for one of the earliest tyrannosaurs. The partial skull remains have revealed the presence of a crest that rose up from the snout. Beyond this the only thing that can be said about Kileskus is that it appears … Read more
In Depth Galleonosaurus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in Australia during the early Cretaceous. The holotype for the genus is a hollow jaw bone, and at the time of writing no other fossil remains are known for this dinosaur. The name Galleoosaurus was chosen because when the fossil bone was held upside … Read more
In Depth Nigerpeton seems to have been one of the last surviving members of the Edopoidea group of temnospondyl amphibians. Nigerpeton possibly lived in the same environments as Saharastega since both of these amphibians are known from the Moradi Formation of Niger. Further Reading – Permian tetrapods from the Sahara show climate-controlled endemism in Pangaea. … Read more