In Depth Ctenochasmatid pterosaurs are usually confirmed by their special dentition which allows them to filter sediment and water as they hunt for invertebrates. However this was not possible for Beipiaopterus because the skull was unknown. Instead the remainder of the body had to be examined for identifying features and the conclusion to this was … Read more
In Depth First discovered in the Canadian Province of Alberta by Irene Vanderloh in 1974 and named by Hans-Dieter Sues in 1978, Saurornitholestes was a small dromaeosaur that is thought to have been similar to the Asian Velociraptor in form. In 2006 a second species called Saurornitholestes robustus was named by Robert Sullivan. The ‘robustus’ … Read more
In Depth Liopleurodon was an apex predator of the Jurassic seas. With a skull, and jaws taking up one fifth of the total length of the animal it had a powerful bite. The twenty centimetre teeth buried deep into the jaws further reinforce this idea. Liopleurodon had a typical pliosaur limb arrangement and although not … Read more
In Depth An extinct genus of lobe-finned fish, Mandageria was a streamlined predators of other fish. With the exception of the pectoral fins that are situated near the head, all of the other fins are located in more posterior locations towards the tail. Because these fins were here, they could help increase the surface area … Read more
In Depth While only known from teeth, Uatchitodon is still a very interesting genus as at the time of writing it is the earliest known venomous reptile. The teeth of Uatchitodon are recurved and serrated, perfect for slicing through flesh, but grooves in the teeth seem to be for the transference of salivary venom from … Read more
In Depth The history of Galeamopus goes all the way back to 1902 when the first fossils were discovered in the US state of Wyoming. In 1906 the fossils were assigned to the Diplodocus genus, but in 1924 they were given their own species D. hayi, upon the basis that they were clearly different to … Read more
In Depth Yuzhoupliosaurus was an interesting find as it was the first rhomaleosaurid pliosaur to be discovered outside of Europe. Rhomaleosaurids like Yuzhoupliosaurus were long necked pliosaurs that looked somewhere between the plesiosaurs like Plesiosaurus, and the shorter necked, large skulled forms like Simolestes and Liopleurodon. Yuzhoupliosaurus itself would have likely been a predator of … Read more
In Depth Compsosuchus is considered to be a very dubious genus of dinosaur, not only due to the incomplete remains but the fact that Charles Alfred Matley and Friedrich von Huene also named two other dinosaurs, Indosaurus and Indosuchus that combined with Compsosuchus may actually represent the same genus. Compsosuchus has been considered to be … Read more
In Depth Neimongosaurus is a genus of therizinosaur that lived in Asia during the late Cretaceous. Like other therizinosaurs, Neimongosaurus was descended from meat eating theropods, though the teeth in the lower jaw of Neimongosaurus which have coarse serrations which indicate that Neimongosaurus were plant eaters. Neimongosaurus has occasionally been classed as a member of … Read more
In Depth Mierasaurus is a genus of turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived in Western North America during the early Cretaceous. Mierasaurus along with the genus Moabosaurus represent at the time of writing some of the last known Turiasaurian sauropod dinosaurs to exist. Further Reading - Descendants of the Jurassic turiasaurs from Iberia found refuge in … Read more