In Depth The few scant fragmentary remains of Labocania make it very difficult to classify, but analysis of the post cranial elements suggest that it was a tyrannosaurid. What parts of the skull which are known are more robust however suggesting that Labocania had a differently shaped skull. It is easy to see why Labocania … Read more
In Depth Rhabdodon is for lack of a better term a puzzle. Although usually described as an iguanodont, Rhabdodon has also been considered as a hypsilophodont, and on top of this it has also been described as a ‘missing link’ between these two groups of dinosaurs. To further the confusion however, Rhabdodon lived in the … Read more
In Depth Manidens is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur that lived in Argentina during the Late Cretaceous. As a heterodontosaurid dinosaur, Manidens had a combination of differently formed teeth within the mouth, and for this reason Manidens is often considered to have been omnivorous, however, so far no stomach contents have been identified to confirm … Read more
In Depth Dating from the Bathonian period, Kileskus is even older than Guanlong making it a contender for one of the earliest tyrannosaurs. The partial skull remains have revealed the presence of a crest that rose up from the snout. Beyond this the only thing that can be said about Kileskus is that it appears … Read more
In Depth Galleonosaurus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in Australia during the early Cretaceous. The holotype for the genus is a hollow jaw bone, and at the time of writing no other fossil remains are known for this dinosaur. The name Galleoosaurus was chosen because when the fossil bone was held upside … Read more
In Depth The first sauropod dinosaur to ever be named was Cetiosaurus, which was named in 1841 by Richard Owen. Owen however did not realise that he was dealing with a dinosaur, he actually thought that he was dealing with a giant marine crocodile. The first sauropod to actually be identified as a dinosaur was … Read more
In Depth Pyroraptor acquired its name from the circumstances of its discovery. In 1992 the partially preserved remains of this dinosaur where discovered after a forest fire had swept through the area. Despite the very incomplete remains it has been possible to identify Pyroraptor as a distinct genus from the unique form of the sickle-shaped … Read more
In Depth The holotype fossils of Duriatitan have were previously considered to be species of the genera Ornithopsis and Pelorosaurus, finally settling in Cetiosaurus, by John Hulke all the way back in 1874, before finally being named as a distinct genus in a 2010 re-description. Duriatitan however still suffers from a distinct lack of fossils, … Read more
In Depth Xuwulong is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading – A New Hadrosauriform Dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Gansu Province, China. – Acta Geologica Sinica. 85 (1): 51–57. – You Hailu, Li Daqing & Liu Weichang – 2011.
In Depth Way back during the 1890s, a fossil collector named Phillip James Rufford discovered a partial dorsal vertebrae near Hastings in East Sussex, England. Eventually catalogued as BMNH R2095, the vertebrae was first thought to belong the genus Cetiosaurus by Richard Lydekker, before eventually becoming Pelorosaurus conybeari. That was about it for well over … Read more