In Depth Today Cryptosaurus is considered to be a genus of ankylosaur, though because it is only known by a partial femur the genus is considered dubious because it would be almost impossible to assign further remains to the genus. When first described by Harry Govier Seeley, Cryptosaurus was thought to have been a relative … Read more
In Depth Yuanmousaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that has most recently been considered to be related to genera such as Mamenchisaurus and Tienshanosaurus. This interpretation is based upon a partial cervical (neck) vertebra, at the time of writing the only part of the neck known that shows elongation similar to the neck vertebrae … 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 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
In Depth Erliansaurus is a genus of primitive therizinosauroid from the late Cretaceous of Mongolia, and the fact that the holotype comes from around the late Campanian and early Maastrichtian is an indication that Erliansaurus was a late surviving form that managed to exist in Asia at a time when other more advanced therizinosaurs were … Read more
In Depth Sulaimanisaurus was described by M. Sadiq Malkani in 2006 from seven caudal (tail) vertebrae, with a further four attributed to the genus. Sulaimanisaurus was then classed into the Pakisauridae, created by Malkani, along with Khetranisaurus and Pakisaurus (the latter being the type genus), two more titanosaurs described by Malkani only from caudal vertebrae. … Read more
In Depth Tralkasaurus was named from very partial fossil remains, so it is hard to be certain and the full life features of this dinosuar. At the time of discovery, what can be said is that Tralkasaurus seems to have been an abelisaurid theropod, and one that seems to have been smaller than most other … Read more
In Depth Sauropelta is one of the better known nodosaurids, armoured dinosaurs that are thought to be ancestral to the later and more heavily armoured ankylosaurids. This armour was in the form of lots of osteoderms (bony plates that are held within the skin that are also sometimes called scutes) that varied greatly in size … Read more
In Depth Siamraptor is a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the early Cretaceous. The holotype individual of Siamraptor is only known from a partial skull, jawbone and a few post cranial bones, so precise details or any unusual features if they existed, are still unknown. These scattered bones however do indicate … Read more