In Depth Initially shelved for not being diagnostic enough, Unescoceratops was finally named in 2012. The name is derived from UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Unescoceratops is particularly noted for having some of the roundest teeth of all known leptoceratopsian dinosaurs. The paper that described Unescoceratops also including the description of … Read more
In Depth With a temporal range that spans from the late Cretaceous to the mid Miocene, Diplocynodon is yet further proof of how perfect the crocodile form is for survival. Represented by several species, the Diplocynodon genus has one of the longest known temporal ranges for a specific crocodile genus, and seems to have been … Read more
In Depth Craspedodon is what is known as a tooth taxon in that the entire genus has been described upon the basis of only a few teeth. When first described by Louis Dollo in 1883, he noted that the teeth were similar to those of Iguanodon, and so for well over a hundred years Craspedodon … Read more
In Depth Bothriospondylus has had a long taxonomic history as a sauropod dinosaur yet today the genus is regarded as dubious. This is because the type material of Bothriospondylus, really just a few vertebrae, has been so badly eroded that it is impossible to identify any unique features for the genus. This makes it impossible … Read more
In Depth Proticia is a genus of mammal that lived in Venezuela during the early Eocene. Further Reading - A primitive pyrothere (Mammalia, Notoungulata) from the early Tertiary of Northwestern Venezuela. Fieldiana (Geology) 33:397–422. - B. Patterson - 1977.
In Depth Chelosphargis was originally named as species of Protostega in 1906 by Oliver Perry Hay. However the description of Calcarichelys in 1953 led a later palaeontologist, Rainer Zangerl to conclude that P. advena should be reclassified as a distinct genus. Chelosphargis is regarded as being almost identical to Calcarichelys, a turtle with a series … Read more
In Depth Classification and controversy of validity. Stenonychosaurus is a genus of troodontid dinosaur that spent much of its time depicted as a synonym to Troodon. Stenonychosaurus itself was first named in 1932 and for much of the twentieth century it was occasionally depicted as a small predatory dinosaur. Stenonychosaurus would also become the inspiration … Read more
In Depth Currently represented by a partial skull, Ulemica is a genus of anomodont therapsid that lived in Russia Permian. Further Reading - Primitive anomodonts, venyukoviids, from the Late Permian of Eastern Europe. - Paleontological Journal 30: 575–582. - M. F. Ivakhnenko - 1996.
In Depth Pteraspis gets its name from the growths on the sides of its main body ‘shield’. These served acted as hydrofoils, the job usually done by the pectoral fins which are absent in Pteraspis. The lower lobe of the tail is also larger than the upper which would provide upwards lift. The spine that … Read more
In Depth One of the creodont mammals that were most common from the Paleocene to Oligocene periods, Pterodon seems to have been most numerous around Europe and North Africa. An odd set of remains from Pakistan however not only increases the geographic range of this creodont, but also the temporal range as well. Being interpreted … Read more