Wudingloong is an early massopodan sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic Yubacun Formation in Yunnan Province, China. It is represented by a partial skeleton including the skull, neck vertebrae, and forelimb. It is the oldest sauropodomorph known from East Asia and an important early member of Massopoda. Description Wudingloong was a lightly built, plant-eating dinosaur. … Read more
Fossil Map Interactive fossil Map of Dubreuillosaurus, along with its chronological bar chart of fossil discoveries. In Depth Discovered in 1994 and originally classed as a species of Poekilopleuron, Dubreuillosaurus (Poekilopleuron valesdunensis.) was placed into its own genus in 2005 on the basis of differences of the post cranial remains of the two. Dubreuillosaurus itself … Read more
Abelisaurus Fossil Map Interactive fossil Map of Abelisaurus, along with its chronological bar chart of fossil discoveries. In Depth Named after Roberto Abel, the palaeontologist who first discovered the remains, Abelisaurus was the first of the Abelisauridae group of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs, a relatively new group that seems to have been most common across southern … Read more
The large number of remains relating to Ophthalmosaurus has not only indicated that it was a common ichthyosaur of the late Jurassic, but they have formed the basis to a lot of research about ichthyosaurs in general. Perhaps one of the most important areas is that concerning live birth in marine reptiles, something which has been proven in … Read more
Intro Archaeocursor asiaticus, a small-bodied (~1 meter in body length) ornithischian dinosaur based on a nearly complete left femur found in the Ziliujing Formation of Chongqing, China. Archaeocursor asiaticus is the earliest ornithischian yet discovered in Asia. This Discovery is important as it shows the earliest-diverging ornithischian dinosaur in Asia. Size and Body Structure of … Read more
Levnesovia Fossil Map Interactive fossil Map of Levnesovia, along with its chronological bar chart of fossil discoveries. In Depth Levnesovia is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur that lived in Uzbekistan during the early part of the late Cretaceous. Hadrosauroids were the descendants of the iguanodonts that were common in the late Jurassic/earliest Cretaceous, and the … Read more
In Depth Emausaurus is a primitive genus of thyreophoran dinosaur that lived in Europe during the early Jurassic. Emausaurus was first described by a description of the skull, though osteoderms (bony plates that were in the skin) are also known. Emausaurus seems to have been a small to mid-sized dinosaur that would have relied upon … Read more
In Depth Initially thought to represent Pedeticosaurus, though not assigned to an exact species, Litargosuchus was later established upon the description of a complete skull and partial post cranial skeleton. Litargosuchus would have been a fast running predator of smaller vertebrates such as lizards, though larger invertebrates may have also been taken. Further Reading - … Read more
In Depth For a long time Helveticosaurus was thought to be one of the placodonts, specialist marine reptiles that lived in the Triassic seas that fed upon shellfish. However further analysis has revealed that only the vertebra of Helveticosaurus are similar to the placodonts, which has led to Helveticosaurus being re-classed as a diapsid (two … Read more
In Depth The turbulent history of Brontosaurus For well over one hundred years there was a great question asked amongst dinosaur enthusiasts; is Brontosaurus actually Apatosaurus? Well this all began in a period of American paleontological history dubbed the ‘bone wars’, a fierce rivalry between two men named Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. … Read more