In Depth Staurikosaurus may have been only a small theropod dinosaur, but it is also one of the earliest known confirmed dinosaurs. By the time of the Carnian, the first definitive theropods were roaming around South America and hunting other animals. At a little over two meters long, Staurikosaurus was probably a predator of smaller … Read more
In Depth Named after the city of Tamba in Japan, Tambatitanis is a genus of titanosaur that lived in what is now Japan during the early Cretaceous. Though so far only known from partial remains, the anterior caudal (tail) vertebrae of the holotype specimen have already caused a stir amongst palaeontologists because the neural spines … Read more
In Depth Malarguesaurus was a titanosauriform sauropod that lived in Argentina during the earlier stages of the late Cretaceous. Though only known from partial remains, Malarguesaurus has been considered to be similar to the genera Phuwiangosaurus and Ligabuesaurus. Further Reading - Malarguesaurus florenciae gen. et sp. nov., a new titanosauriform (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper … 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 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 Gasosaurus was named in honour of the gasoline company that found the Lower Shaximiao Formation, then known as the Dashanpu fossil quarry. Since its naming Gasosaurus has been the subject of uncertainty regarding its validity and position. There have been claims that it may the same as a slightly older genus called Kaijiangosaurus … Read more
In Depth Gongxianosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known to have lived in China towards the end of early Jurassic. When compared to other early sauropods, Gongxianosaurus is generally thought to be fairly intermediate in development, being more advanced than genera such as Melanorosaurus and Antetonitrus, but not as advanced as genera such as … Read more
In Depth Sigilmassasaurus has had a turbulent taxonomic history, at times being valid, other times being synonymous with other genera, to being valid again. It all began in 1996 when Dale Russel described a series of cervical vertebrae that were noted for being fairly short, hence the type species name S. brevicollis which mans ‘short … Read more
In Depth Out of all the hadrosaurs (also known as the duck-billed dinosaurs) Parasaurolophus is one of the most widely recognised thanks to its very distinctive skull crest. The name Parasaurolophus is a bit of a mouthful, but this is based around the early interpretation that Parasaurolophus was similar to another genus names Saurolophus … Read more