In Depth Lycophocyon is a genus of primitive caniform mammal that lived in western North America during the latter half of the Eocene. Caniform mammals like Lycophocyon are seen as the precursors of the true canids which today include dogs, bears, weasels, martens and even seals. Further Reading - A new basal caniform (Mammalia: Carnivora) … Read more
In Depth The holotype specimen of Polonosuchus, a partial left maxilla was originally described as a species of Teratosaurus in 2005. A re-evaluation of the specimen led to the 2009 creation of Polonosuchus. The former species name, silesiacus was retained to create the new type species P. silesiacus, as is standard procedure in such naming … Read more
In Depth Gobiconodon has been perceived to have been a possum-like animal, as well as one of the larger mammals alive during the Early Cretaceous. Although most fossils associated with Gobiconodon are known from Asia, some fossil remains are also known from the USA. Gobiconodon lived during the early Cretaceous and most species of are … Read more
In Depth Thescelosaurus seems to have been one of the main herbivorous dinosaurs roaming around North America towards the end of the Cretaceous period. The first fossils of Thescelosaurus began to be recovered in the closing decade of the nineteenth century, but were not described until 1913 by Charles W. Gilmore, who provided a much … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – Anm�rkningar vid Genus Trichechi. Kongl. – Vetenskaps Academiens nya handlingar 2(15):286-300. – A. J. Retzius – 1794. – A new species of hydrodamaline Sirenia from Hokkaido, Japan. – Takikawa Museum of Art and Natural History. pp. 1–73. – H. Furusawa – 1988. – A phylogeny of the North Pacific Sirenia … Read more
In Depth Bayomesasuchus is a genus of peirosaurid crocodile that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new peirosaurid (Crocodyliformes, Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. - Ameghiniana 53(1):14-25. - F. Barrios, A. Paulina-Carabajal & P. Bona - 2015.
In Depth Hudsonelpidia is a little known ichthyosaur from the Late Triassic. Like with its relatives, Hudsonelpidia was probably a hunter of fish and other small marine organisms. Further Reading Further reading- A remarkable small ichthyosaur from the Upper Triassic of British Columbia, representing a new genus and species. – Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. … Read more
In Depth Juchilestes is a genus of amphidont mammal that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new mammal skull from the Lower Cretaceous of China with implications for the evolution of obtuse-angled molars and ‘amphilestid’ eutriconodonts. - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 277:237-246. - C. -L. Gao, … Read more
In Depth Zhanghenglong was described at the time of its description as a non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid, which translated into simpler terms is a primitive hadrosaur. Hadrosauroids like Zhanghenglong were descended from the older iguanodont ornithopods that rose to prominence during late Jurassic and early Cretaceous. By the earlier stages of the late cretaceous that had evolved … Read more
In Depth Opisthocoelicaudia is a bit of a mouthful to say but is based upon the structure of the caudal vertebrae. The vertebrae connect in a ball and socket fashion, and while the socket part is usually found to point forwards, it’s actually reversed to point backwards in Opisthocoelicaudia. Since this initial discovery however the … Read more