In Depth Tastavinsaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in Spain during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new sauropod: Tastavinsaurus sanzi gen. et sp. nov. from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) of Spain. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28 (3): 712–731.- J. I. Canudo, R. Royo-Torres, & G. Cuenca-Besc�s - 2008.
In Depth Machairasaurus is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in China during the late Cretaceous. Machairasaurus was so named from the claws on its fingers which are curved like scimitar swords. It is speculated that these claws may have allowed Machairasaurus to pull and manipulate plant branches or possibly even dig out roots. … Read more
In Depth Europatitan was a very large somphospondylan sauropod dinosaur that lived in Spain during the early Cretaceous. The type species name E. eastwoodi was inspired by the actor Clint Eastwood. Further Reading - Europatitan eastwoodi, a new sauropod from the lower Cretaceous of Iberia in the initial radiation of somphospondylans in Laurasia. - PeerJ … Read more
In Depth Raptorex is a very dubious genus of tyrannosaur that many consider to be a juvenile Tarbosaurus. When Raptorex was first revealed to the world the holotype had already been dug out of the ground and shipped to Japan where it was purchased by an American businessman. Back then the fossil was being identified … Read more
In Depth Eoraptor stands out not only for being one of the first dinosaurs to ever walk the Earth, but because palaeontologists cannot conclusively agree on where to place it in relation to other dinosaurs. Initially Eoraptor was classed as a theropod because of its bipedal stance and narrow build, but the sauropodomorphs (which would … Read more
In Depth Fossils of Platypelta have for a long time been associated with the genus Euoplocephalus, yet in 2018, some of these fossils were given their own distinct genus by Penkalski in 2018. Platypelta was a medium sized ankylosaurine dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - Revised systematics … Read more
In Depth Latenivenatrix has a somewhat convoluted history of discovery. The holotype specimen of the genus (CMN 12340) was originally designated as being a Stenonychosaurus by Dale A. Russel in 1969. Then in 1987 it was moved into the Troodon genus, the type genus of the troodontid dinosaurs. It was not until much later in … Read more
In Depth Unfortunately at the time of the genus description the only fossils of Austroposeidon that we have are some vertebrae. However, comparison to other similar dinosaurs has led to realistic size estimates for this dinosaur of about twenty-five metres in length. Although not the biggest dinosaur, this does make Austroposeidon at the time of … Read more
In Depth Massospondylus was one amongst the first dinosaurs to be named with a taxonomic history going back as far as the mid nineteenth century. Yet when Richard Owen described the first fossils, he thought that he was dealing with an ancient ancestor to more familiar lizards such as iguanas chameleons. In actuality Massospondylus represents … Read more
In Depth Hypselospinus was a genus of ornithopod that was similar to Iguanodon, so similar in fact that the holotype remains of the genus were originally named as a species of Iguanodon, I. fittoni. These remains were re-described as a new genus by Norman in 2010, but not long after another name for the remains … Read more