Erlikosaurus: Research Database Therizinosauria (Saurischia) · Late Cretaceous (~70 MYA) · Asia — Mongolia (Bayan Shire Formation) Research Note: Erlikosaurus was a therizinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia — an important taxon for understanding theropod-to-herbivore transition and therizinosaur paleoecology. Research Finding Status Grade Year Method Citation Impact Fiorillo & Adams 2012: Erlikosaurus … Read more
In Depth Oohkotokia was a medium to large ankylosaurid dinosaur that is so far only known from a single individual, though other fossils gathered in the past may actually represent specimens of this genus. Oohkotokia seems to have been similar to Euoplocephalus, though is considered distinct because the skull texture of Oohkotokia is quite smooth … Read more
Coloradisaurus: Research Database Massopoda (Sauropodomorpha) · Late Triassic (~210 MYA) · South America — Argentina (Ischigualasto Formation) Research Note: Coloradisaurus was a massopodan sauropodomorph from the Late Triassic Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina. It provides important data on early sauropodomorph diversity and evolution in South America during the Triassic. Research Finding Status Grade Year … Read more
In Depth Living in India during the early Jurassic, the dinosaur Lamplughsaura has been the source of some head scratching amongst palaeontologists. The two main options at the moment are that either Lamplughsaura represents a very advanced sauropodomorph, or a primitive sauropod dinosaur. What can be established however is that Lamplughsaura does represent a transitional … Read more
Vayuraptor: Research Database Spinosauridae (Theropoda) · Early Cretaceous (~130-125 MYA) · Asia — Thailand (Phu Wiang) Research Note: Vayuraptor was a spinosaurid theropod from the Early Cretaceous of Thailand — one of the few known spinosaurids from Southeast Asia and an important taxon for understanding spinosaurid evolution and biogeography in Asia during the Cretaceous … Read more
In Depth Originally thought to be a species of Stegosaurus at the time of the first description in 1901, the partial post cranial remains were soon identified as being a distinct genus and renamed Hoplitosaurus in 1902. The species name which honours the famous American palaeontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, who actually named the genus Stegosaurus, … Read more
Mononykus: Research Database Alvarezsauridae (Theropoda) · Late Cretaceous (~70 MYA) · Asia — Mongolia (Gobi Desert, Bissekty Formation) Research Note: Mononykus was a small alvarezsaurid theropod from the Late Cretaceous Gobi Desert of Mongolia, famous for its extremely reduced forelimbs — each bearing a single large claw. As one of the most bizarre dinosaur … Read more
Nanosaurus: Research Database Ornithischia (Dinosauria) · Late Jurassic (~155-148 MYA) · North America — USA (Morrison Formation) Research Note: Nanosaurus was an ornithischian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of the Morrison Formation — a small ornithopod and an important taxon for understanding ornithischian diversity in the Jurassic of North America. Research Finding Status … Read more
In Depth Geranosaurus was an ornithischian dinosaur that lived in South Africa during the early Jurassic. Because Geranosaurus is known from only very fragmentary fossil remains, many consider it a dubious genus as it will likely be very difficult to attribute further remains to the genus given there is so little to compare new discoveries … Read more
In Depth Since it was named in 1989, the dinosaur genus Bruhathkayosaurus has attained almost mythical status. The original description of the bones of this dinosaur were originally interpreted as belonging to a theropod dinosaur, though later study of the description has led readers to conclude that the remains were actually of a titanosaurid … Read more