In Depth By the start of the Late Cretaceous the central portion of North America had been submerged by a shallow sea. This created two landmasses out of the North American continent, Laramidia in the west and Appalachia in the east. Most Cretaceous era dinosaurs from North America have been found in what was once … Read more
In Depth Merycopotamus is a genus of anthracothere mammal that lived in both Africa and Asia during from the Miocene to Pliocene periods. Further Reading - A New Species of Bothriodontinae, Merycopotamus thachangensis (Cetartiodactyla, Anthracotheriidae) from the Late Miocene of Nakhon Ratchasima, Northeastern Thailand. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28 (4): 1182–1188. - R. Hanta, … Read more
In Depth At eight meters long Rocasaurus was actually quite small for a sauropod, though it still would have been one of the larger dinosaurs on the landscapes of late Cretaceous Argentina. However if the holotype is correctly interpreted as that of a juvenile, then adults of the genus would have certainly grown larger. Another … Read more
In Depth Huehuecanauhtlus easily has one of the hardest genus names to pronounce of any dinosaur. That aside, Huehuecanauhtlus was a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaurs that lived in what is now Mexico during the late Cretaceous. The region that the Huehuecanauhtlus holotypes are known from would have been near the southern tip of the landmass … Read more
In Depth Often described as hippopotamus-like because of its heavily built quadrupedal body, Desmostylus is a peculiar mammal. Palaeontologists are still unsure how Desmostylus is related to other mammals with theories covering a wide range of options from being related to elephants, to hippopotamuses to just being a separate side branch of mammals that left … Read more
In Depth Although the last part of the name, suchus, translates to English as crocodile, Ornithosuchus was actually an archosaur. These were the dominant reptiles of the Triassic some of which would diverge into true crocodiles, while others would take different paths to evolve into the dinosaurs. In fact the long hind legs that would … Read more
In Depth As a coelophysid, Lucianovenator was a small predatory dinosaur similar in form to other genera such as Camposaurus and Coelophysis. Lucianovenator would have been a predator of small creatures such as lizards and possibly scavenging carrion when available. Lucianovenator shared the same habitat with the dinosaurs Ingentia and Leyesaurus, while other creatures such … Read more
In Depth Lycaenodon has occasionally been considered to be a gorgonopsid, but modern analysis firmly places Lycaenodon as a biarmosuchian therapsid. Like others of its kind, Lycaenodon would have been a predator of other animals. Lycaenodon should not be confused with the similarly named gorgonopsid Lycaenops that was also named By Robert Broom in 1925. … Read more
In Depth Procompsognathus has often been recreated in popular science work about dinosaurs where it is usually depicted as a very small bipedal theropod dinosaur. However since the initial description of the holotype fossils, further specimens have been referred to the genus, though these are controversial fossils that are widely seen as not belonging to … Read more
In Depth Although weathered and not entirely complete, the holotype of Linhevenator is still one of the most complete Late Cretaceous troodontid individuals so far known. Linhevenator is towards the larger end of the known troodontid size range, but its main unique features are its small arms, each with a very robust humerus. This may … Read more