In Depth The crocodiles seem to have been quite resilient to the effects of the KT extinction sixty-five million years ago that marked the death of the dinosaurs, as Brachychampsa is yet another genus of crocodylian that is known to have existed for several million years before and after this extinction event. Dyrosaurus is another … Read more
In Depth For its type Macroleter were fairly large predators that were procolopophonid parareptiles. One former species of Seymouria, S. agilis has been re-assigned as a second species of Macroleter. This makes the type species of Macroleter, M. poezicus known from Russia, and the second species, M. agilis known from the USA. There is also … Read more
In Depth Scaphognathus acquired the somewhat unglamorous name of ‘Tub jaw’ because of the robust snout construction. Still when first described, Scaphognathus was included into the pterodactyloidea because of the lack of a tail. This lack of tail actually misled the original examiner as in realty it had just failed to fossilise with the rest … Read more
In Depth Brasinorhynchus is a genus of rhynocosaur that lived in South America during the Triassic. Further Reading - A new rhynchosaur from south Brazil (Santa Maria Formation) and rhynchosaur diversity patterns across the Middle-Late Triassic boundary. - Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 90:593-609. - C. L. Schultz, M. C. Langer & F. C. Montefeltro - 2016.
In Depth Originally named in 1997 as Titanosaurus colberti by Jain and Bandyopadhyay, a new study by Wilson and Upchurch in 2003 saw the fossils renamed as a new genus, Isisaurus. Isisaurus was named after the Indian Statistical Institute and should not be confused with the goddess Isis from Ancient Egyptian mythology. Isisaurus was a … Read more
In Depth Even though it was ten meters long, it is not its size that makes Stomatosuchus stand out but its presumed feeding strategy. The upper jaw only had small conical teeth, while the lower jaw has been suggested at being toothless, with the inclusion of a pelican like pouch underneath. This is unprecedented amongst … Read more
In Depth Pachydectes was a primitive biarmosuchian therapsid that lived in South Africa during the mid-Permian. Further Reading - A new burnetiamorph (Therapsida: Biarmosuchia) from the Middle Permian of South Africa. - Journal of Paleontology 80 (4): 740–749. - B. S. Rubidge, C. A. Sidor & S. P. Modesto - 2006.
In Depth There are many interesting archosaurs that lay within the Allokotosauria group, and Shringasaurus is no exception. Although the holotype skull of Shringasaurus is incomplete, it is enough to confirm that this archosaur had large horns that rose up from above the eyes and pointed forwards. Horns such as these are usually seen as … Read more
In Depth Paramylodon acquired its name from its close similarity to another ground sloth called Mylodon. This close similarity has led to questions as to if they are actually separate genera since the original defining characteristic of the two genera having a different dental formulae is today no longer considered enough because the numbers of … Read more
In Depth Youngosuchus was first described in 1973 by C. C. Young as a species of the genus Vjushkovia, V. sinensis. In 1985 however a re-description by Kalandadze & A. G. Sennikov saw the species described as a distinct genus, Youngosuchus. Since then there has been some uncertainty as to what kind of archosauromorph Youngosuchus … Read more