In Depth Microceratus was actually first named all the way back in 1953 as Microceratops from partial remains discovered in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. Just over fifty years later however it was realised that Microceratops had already been used to name a genus of wasp, and so this dinosaur was renamed as Microceratus. Microceratops … Read more
In Depth When the description of Pegomastax was first publically released news headlines of ‘Dracula dinosaur’ and ‘Fanged vampire parrot’ soon flooded the internet. Pegomastax however seems to be one of the heterodontosaurid dinosaurs, and although some palaeontologists have speculated that these kinds of dinosaurs used their teeth to eat small prey like lizards and … Read more
In Depth When Richard Owen first established the Dinosauria, and thus creating the term dinosaur in 1842, Hylaeosaurus was one of the three genera used to establish the group (the others were Megalosaurus and Iguanodon). Several species of Hylaeosaurus have been named over the years, but the only species currently thought to be valid is … Read more
In Depth Mongolostegus is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the early Cretaceous. Unfortunately details about Mongolostegus are hard to determine due to the overall lack of fossil remains for the genus. Further Reading - First Record of Stegosaur (Ornithischia, Dinosauria) from the Aptian-Albian of Mongolia. - Paleontological Journal 52(14). - … Read more
In Depth Foraminacephale is a genus of small pachycephalosaurid dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous. Fossil material of Foraminacephale was originally assigned to the Stegoceras genus as the species S. brevis, but became the basis of a new genus in 2016 (Schott & Evans). Several partial skulls of Foraminacephale are are … Read more
In Depth The taxonomic history of Erectopus is a little muddled, but to begin with Erectopus was named as a species of Megalosaurus, M. superbus. This was in 1882 when Henri-�mile Sauvage added fossil remains to a private collection owned by Louis Pierson that had first been described in 1875 by Charles Barrois. Then when … Read more
In Depth Like with Rapator and Ozraptor, Kakuru has been named from a single bone. Also like with Raptor, the type specimen of Kakuru has been turned to opal. The exact classification of Kakuru has been hard to establish because of the lack of identifiable remains. What can be said is that Kakuru was likely … Read more
In Depth Pisanosaurus is easily one of the oldest ornithischian dinosaurs that are currently known to science. Unfortunately the holotype specimen is very fragmentary, and details such as the orientation of the pubic bone are still unknown. Despite this the basic orithopod body form can still be clearly seen, Pisanosaurus is a good indicator for … Read more
In Depth In terms of size Marshosaurus was a middle of the range theropod but one that seems built for strength. Aside from the fairly robust skull, the short but thick humerus of the arms indicates that Marshosaurus was adapted for holding onto and physically subduing its prey. A right ilium (hip bone) of Marshosaurus … Read more
In Depth Xiyunykus is a genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. In terms of alvarezsaur evolution, Xiyunykus shows an intermediate development between primitive ancestors and more developed descendents. Care should be taken not to confuse the Xiyunykus with the similarly named alvarezsaur Xixianykus. Further Reading - Two early Cretaceous … Read more