In Depth Chilantaisaurus has had a jumbled taxominc history since its initial discovery mainly due to the inclusion of fragmentary remains that were later found to represent other, although similar dinosaurs. One example is Chilantaisaurus maortuensis which has been found to represent a carcharodontosaurid theropod and has since been renamed Shaochilong. Another current species of … Read more
In Depth What might have otherwise been an unassuming little lizard, has now become famous worldwide for being named after the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama. The full name Obamadon which means ‘Obama tooth’ is a reference to Barack Obama’s smile. Fossils of Obamadon were originally assigned to Leptochamops denticulatus, but a … Read more
In Depth The remains for Bennettazhia were actually described back in 1928 by Charles W. Gilmore, although he actually assigned the fossils to Pteranodon under the new species name P. oregonensis. It was not until 1989 when S. Christopher Bennet found that the remains were not those of a Pteranodon but of an unknown azhdarchid … Read more
In Depth During the Cretaceous period much of Modern day Manitoba would have been submerged under the Western Interior Seaway, which is how the fossils of the mosasaur Latoplatecarpus made it so far inland. After the original material was prepared and described, some further remains that were once attributed to Plioplatecarpus were reassigned to Latoplatecarpus … Read more
In Depth The type specimen was originally assigned to the genus Microceratops (now a synonym to Microceratus), Graciliceratops seems to have been a small and lightly built ceratopsian dinosaur. Graciliceratops seems to have been more comfortable in a bipedal posture, but already it is clear that Graciliceratops would have been easily able to adopt a … Read more
In Depth Eastmanosteus was originally known as Dinichthys pustulosus until it was realised to be a separate genus in its own right. In these circumstances the species name is retained and added to the new genus to become the type species for the new genus. Hence Dinichthys pustulosus became Eastmanosteus pustulosus, the genus name being … Read more
In Depth Australia would have had a lot of dinosaurs roaming around during the Mesozoic but the harsh conditions of the land mean that when dinosaur remains are discovered they are often very fragmentory and of a single bone. Thus Rapator is currently only known from a single small bone, kind of like other Australian … Read more
In Depth Nemicolopterus is currently regarded as the smallest known pterosaur, and it is almost inconceivable from looking at it that on the other end of the pterosaur size scale would be giants like Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx with wingspans of eleven meters. The curved claws of Nemicolopterus indicate that it could have perched upon branches … Read more
In Depth Culebrasuchus is a genus of caiman crocodile that lived in Central America during the early Miocene. The presence of Culebrasuchus in Panama has also led to speculation that North and South America may have been joined much earlier than previous thought, albeit only temporally, though other kinds of caiman are known from slightly … Read more
In Depth Seminobatrachus was a genus of Salamander that lived in the Ukraine at the end of the Paleocene/early Eocene. Further Reading – A new salamander from the late Paleocene–early Eocene of Ukraine – Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 57(1):135-148 – Pavel P. Skutschas & Yuri M. Gubin – 2012.