In Depth Tianchisaurus was originally dubbed (but never officially named) Jurassosaurus because in the same year that it was named, the very first Jurassic park film was released. Incidentally, the name Jurassosaurus was suggested by Steven Spielberg who produced and directed the film. Dong rejected the name Jurassosaurus in favour of Tianchisaurus, but kept the … Read more
In Depth Like so many other Australian dinosaurs Qantassaurus is known only from frustratingly incomplete remains. At the time of writing the only parts of this dinosaur that are known are partial jaws, but they are still distinct enough to recognise as a new type of dinosaur. Qantassaurus has been classified as a hypsilophodontid dinosaur, … Read more
In Depth Mandschurosaurus is registered as a genus of hadrosaur that lived in what is now China during the late Cretaceous. Unfortunately the first individual ever found for this genus is so poorly preserved that most palaeontologists today regard the genus as a nomen dubium due to the difficulty of assigning further remains to the … Read more
In Depth Kritosaurus was first described in 1910 upon a description of a partial skull that was not only incomplete but partially eroded. To fill in the gaps, Brown used a second skull that would later be referred to Anatotitan to complete the reconstruction. Not all the fragments were used, and the final reconstruction was … Read more
In Depth Although only described from a single upper jaw bone, Matheronodon is noteworthy among ornithopod dinosaurs for having teeth that are larger, but fewer in number to most other known ornithopods. The describers speculated that Matheronodon used a scissoring action to eat plants. Further Reading - Extreme tooth enlargement in a new Late Cretaceous … Read more
In Depth Like with many dinosaurs named from English fossils in the nineteenth century, Lexovisaurus has a complex taxonomic history, but it can be broken down like this. Current fossils of Lexovisaurus were originally described in 1887as Omosaurus a genus that had different species. However it was later realised that the name Omosaurus was preoccupied, … Read more
In Depth The holotype specimen of Spinops was first discovered in 1916 by Charles H. and Levi Sternberg. However when the material was sent to the London Natural History Museum (the institution that financed the dig) the keeper of Geology, one Arthur Smith Woodward (today best remembered for declaring the ‘Piltdown Man’ as a genuine … Read more
In Depth Originally named as a species of Protoceratops, P. kozlowskii, Breviceratops was established as a distinct genus of ceratopsian dinosaur in 1990. There has been much speculation that Breviceratops may actually be synonymous with the genus Bagaceratops, though some researchers have pointed out notable differences between the holotype of Breviceratops and the known specimens … Read more
In Depth Muttaburrasaurus is one of the best known dinosaurs to come from Australia, though it was the inclusion of Muttaburrasaurus in an episode of the TV series Walking with Dinosaurs that brought it to the attention of a worldwide audience. Muttaburrasaurus is named after the town Muttaburra situated in Queensland, Australia where the holotype … Read more
In Depth Back in 1860 a partial lower jaw of a dinosaur was collected by A. J. Hogg, which later in 1874 was named as a species of Iguanodon, I. hoggi by Richard Owen. More than a hundred years later the jaw was thought to represent a European specimen of Camptosaurus, but later still in … Read more