Classification history and complications When Tarbosaurus fossils were first discovered many of them were actually assigned as new species to the existing tyrannosauroid genera Tyrannosaurus (T. bataar) and Gorgosaurus (G. lancinator & G. novojilovi), as well as the new genus and species, Tarbosaurus efremovi. This classification continued until 1965 when Anatoly Konstantinovich Rozhdestvensky realised that … Read more
In Depth Pantosaurus was originally described as Parasaurus, however this name had already been used to name a genus of Pareiasaur. Pantosaurus is a genus of plesiosaur that lived in North America during the late Jurassic. Pantosaurus has been noted as having a strong similarity to Muraenosaurus which is known from England and France, though … Read more
In Depth The key thing about Judiceratops is that at the time of its description it appears to be the oldest known chasmosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur. Unfortunately only an incomplete skull is known for the genus, so figures on size and a confirmed arrangement of horns and neck frill are a little tricky to establish. Judiceratops … Read more
In Depth With the exception of Triceratops, Styracosaurus is the ceratopsian dinosaur that most people are familiar with. In fact it could even be argued that Styracosaurus has had even greater exposure in popular media such as films, books and games. This popularity is all down to the very distinctive arrangement of horns that extend … Read more
In Depth Named very early in the twenty-first century, Huabeisaurus has fast become one of the big names amongst the Asian sauropods. This is mostly because that so far Huabeisaurus is one of the most complete sauropods to come out of Asia, and this in turn has actually caused many palaeontologists to question the family … Read more
In Depth Medusaceratops acquired its name from the way that the upper horns on the frill curve downwards, which gave the vague of impression of the snakes that rise out of the head of Medusa in Greek mythology. Medusaceratops was initially described as a chasmosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur, the kind with a very large neck frill … Read more
In Depth Although not as well-known as its more famous relative Dolichorhynchops, Trinacromerum remains one of the best represented polycotylid plesiosaurs in the fossil record. Like its relatives, Trinacromerum was a plesiosaur but one with a much shorter neck and elongated jaws filled with thin needle like teeth. Living in the Western Interior Seaway of … Read more
In Depth Brancasaurus is a genus of small plesiosaur that lived in the waters of Europe during the early Cretaceous. Because the holotype individual of Brancasaurus was fairly small, most of the skeleton has been recovered, and Brancasaurus is known as one of the most complete individual plesiosaurs ever recovered. Further Reading - Brancasaurus brancai … Read more
In Depth Tatisaurus is one of those dinosaurs that has a lot of people forming lots of different opinions about what exactly it is. The person who first described the type fossil, D. J. Simmons first proposed that it belonged to a heterodontosaurid dinosaur and then later to a dinosaur similar to Scelidosaurus, a Thyreophoran … Read more
In Depth Wulong is a genus of microraptorine dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. The holotype individual of Wulong is of a juvenile, so a full adult size for this dinosaur is unknown at the time of writing. Other microraptorine dinosaurs however are usually smaller than other dromaeosaurid dinosaurs, and like … Read more