In Depth Originally uncovered during the 1960s, the holotype teeth of Trimucrodon were originally thought to be from a small mammal. In 1973 however Richard Thulborn recognised that the teeth were actually from a small dinosaur, though his paper describing them and naming the genus did not actually get formally published until 1975. Today Trimucrodon … Read more
In Depth At the time of writing the only parts of the dinosaur Pycnonemosaurus that have been recovered include some legs and hip bones as well as caudal (tail) vertebrae and teeth. These parts however are enough to identify Pycnonemosaurus as an abelisaurid theropod dinosaur. Like with other abelisaurs, Pycnonemosaurus would be expected to have … Read more
In Depth Named in 1856 by Joseph Leidy on the description of teeth, Palaeoscincus is today considered a highly dubious genus of ankylosaur. While over the years other fossil material has been assigned to the genus, most of this material has now been reassigned to other dinosaur genera including the dinosaurs Euoplocephalus, Paranthodon and even … Read more
In Depth The one thing that immediately stands out about Dakotaraptor at first glance is simply the large size of this dromaeosaurid dinosaur. Most dromaeosaurid dinosaurs measure in at under two meters in length, with a few genera ranging between two and three meters long. The Holotype individual of Dakotaraptor however has a reconstructed length … Read more
In Depth Although discovered in a joint Mongolian and Russian dig in 1989, Achillobator did not get named until 1999. These remains are very fragmentary but do suggest that Achillobator was a particularly large dromaeosaurid dinosaur. The achilles tendons seem to have been particularly well developed, probably to account for the extra size and weight … Read more
In Depth Crittendenceratops is a genus of ceratopsian dinosaur that lived in Western portion of North America during the late Cretaceous. While many fossils of various types of animals have been discovered in the Fort Crittenden Formation of Arizona, Crittendenceratops is the first distinct genus to be named from this formation. Further Reading - A … Read more
In Depth Not a lot is known about Zby, other than it was a eusauropod dinosaur that seems to have featured similarities with the genus Turiasaurus from Spain, which may also be the largest sauropod dinosaur known from Europe. Zby might sound like a strange name for an animal, but this dinosaur was actually named … Read more
In Depth Alxasaurus was a very significant discovery since study of the bones of this dinosaur reveal both specialised therizinosaur morphs as well as more standard’ theropod features. Combined with its appearance in the early Cretaceous, Alxasaurus is firmly established as a transitory form that shows a stage of development between general theropods and the … Read more
In Depth Nanningosaurus is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur that lived in China during the late Cretaceous, and is also the first genus of hadrosaur identified as living in southern China. Further Reading - The first hadrosaurid dinosaur from southern China. Acta Geologica Sinica 81(4):550-554. - J. Mo, Z. Zhao, W. Wang & X. Xu … Read more
In Depth Though known only from very few fossils, Adratiklit is the first known example of dacentrurine stegosaur from North Africa. At the time of naming however, we do not know other details such as the type and extent of plates and spikes that would have run down its back as the genus was named … Read more