In Depth Caudipteryx the animal. Caudipteryx is one of the most primitive oviraptosaurs so far known to us, only the genus Incisivosaurus is known to be older at the time of writing. The skull of Caudipteryx can be easily described as being box-like, and the jaws are already formed into a beak. Teeth are still … Read more
In Depth The name Pareisactus means ‘intruder’, and this came about from the observation that out of several hundred hadrosaur bones, a single fossil of a scapula (shoulder blade) belonging to a rhabdodont dinosaur was found. This scapula was subsequently used to name the genus Pareisactus. Like hadrosaurs, rhabdodonts like Pareisactus were plant eating dinosaurs. … Read more
In Depth Neuquenraptor was very nearly the first dromaeosaurid dinosaur to be discovered on the South American continent. First discovered in 1996, the holotype specimen was unofficially named Araucanoraptor argentinus in 1997. Also in 1997 another dromaeosaurid genus named Unenlagia was named from the same formation, and because this genus had a proper description, Unenlagia … Read more
In Depth Rubeosaurus originally started out as a species of Styracosaurus that was based upon partial skull remains, a partial parietal bone recovered in 1928 and a slightly more complete second specimen consisting of left and right nasal and horncore, left premaxilla, partial left orbital with horncore and almost complete right parietal with two spikes. … Read more
In Depth Lusovenator is a genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in Europe during the late Jurassic. The known fossils of Lusovenator suggest a size of a little of three meters, though they also indicate that these fossils belonged to a juvenile and was therefore not fully grown. The full grown size of Lusovenator … Read more
In Depth Zuoyunlong is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur that lived in China during the early stages of the late Cretaceous. In terms of physical development, hadrosauroid dinosaurs were in between the earlier iguanodonts of the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous, and the later hadrosaurids that were most common by the end of the late … Read more
In Depth When Appalachiosaurus was first discovered it raised more than a few eyebrows because it was discovered in the Eastern United States. Up until that point only one other genus of tyrannosaur named Dryptosaurus had been found in the eastern half of the USA. The one specimen of Appalachiosaurus appears to have been a … Read more
In Depth At times the skull of Naashoibitosaurus has been attributed to Kritosaurus, while the post cranial skeleton attributed to Edmontosaurus. This is because the skull has been challenged as representing a growth stage of Kritosaurus, though other studies have shown that it is different enough to be regarded as its own genus. Currently however, … Read more
In Depth Tanycolagreus has been dubbed a run of the mill kind of Jurassic predator. Small and lightweight, Tanycolagreus probably focused its attentions on hunting smaller dinosaurs that were too difficult for larger predators to live on. However the holotype specimen is of a three meter subadult, with further referred material indicating a size approaching … Read more
In Depth Almas is a genus of troodontid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading Osteology of a New Late Cretaceous Troodontid Specimen from Ukhaa Tolgod, �mn�govi Aimag, Mongolia. - American Museum Novitates. 3889: 1–47. - Rui Pei, Mark A. Norell, Daniel E. Barta, G. S. Bever, Michael Pittman & Xing … Read more