In Depth Rhizodus is the type genus of the Rhizodontida, a fairly large group of lobe-finned fishes, many genera of which are known from deposits in Australia. Most remains of Rhizodus however are known from Ireland and Scotland, though some reports suggest that Rhizodus might have also been active in North America as well, something … Read more
In Depth Tylocephalonyx is noted for being one of the dome headed chalicotheres due to the enlarged cranial dome of the skull which is the reason for the first two parts of the name which mean ‘knob head’. The rear part of the name is a reference to the claws on the hands that were … Read more
In Depth To start with the discovery, fossil specimens that would be raised as Richardoestesia where actually described as belonging to the type species of another dinosaur named Chirostenotes. Study in the 1980‘s however yielded the revelation that Chirostenotes was an oviraptorid, which means that the more classic theropod jaws and teeth could not possibly … Read more
In Depth A relative to genera such as Bolosaurus and Belebey, Eudibamus was a small bipedal reptile that lived in Germany during the Permian. Further Reading - Early Permian Bipedal Reptile. - Science 290:969-972. - D. S. Berman, R. R. Reisz, D. Scott, A. C. Henrici, S. S. Sumida & T. Martens - 2000.
In Depth Named after the Gobi Desert, Gobiceratops seems to have been a small bagaceratopsid ceratopsian, though since the genus is only known from a juveniles skull, the full adult size is uncertain. Despite this, Gobiceratops may have been a close relative of Bagaceratops. Further Reading - The tiny horned dinosaur Gobiceratops minutus gen. et … Read more
In Depth At the time of its description, Mymoorapelta was the first Jurassic aged ankylosaur to be discovered in North America. Since this description however, other have questioned exactly what kind of ankylosaur Mymoorapelta was. Mymoorapelta does not have a tail club like ankylosaurids, meaning that it was more likely a nodosaur. The original describers … Read more
In Depth Deuterosaurus was a dinocephalian therapsid that lived in what is now Russia during the mid Permian. Skulls of Deuterosaurus range in size from about 23 centimetres for smaller species, to about 80 for particularly large species. These larger species would make Deuterosaurus one of the larger land animals of the Permian. Dinocephalian therapsids … Read more
In Depth Diorocetus was first named from fossils recovered from the United States by R. Kellog in 1968, establishing the type species Diorocetus hiatus. Then in 2003 and 2008 respectively two new species, Diorocetus chichibuensis and Diorocetus shobarensis were named from fossils discovered in Japan. Out of these D. shobarensis seems to be the earliest … Read more
In Depth Like all other thalattosaurs, Concavispina was a quadrupedal marine reptile that lived on coastlines and hunted in the ocean for its food. Propulsion in the water was provided by undulating its laterally compressed tail in a side to side motion rather than relying upon paddling with the limbs. Concavispina is noted for having … Read more
In Depth Duffinselache is an extinct genus of shark that is known to have swum in the waters around what is now England during the late Triassic. Further Reading - New Triassic stem selachimorphs (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) and their bearing on the evolution of dental enameloid in Neoselachii. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32 (2): 255–266. … Read more