In Depth The genus name of Gallardosaurus is in honour of Juan Gallardo, the farmer who first discovered the remains in 1946. Despite the remains being discovered at this time, they were left unprepared for proper study, even in 1996 when Gallardosaurus was thought to possibly represent another specimen of Pliosaurus. When the remains were … Read more
In Depth Not much is known about Baalsaurus other than it is a genus of titanosaurian dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. Baalsaurus is named after the Baal fossil site, which is named after the ancient Phoenician god Baal. Further Reading - Baalsaurus mansillai gen. et sp. nov. a new titanosaurian … Read more
In Depth Gilmoremys is a species of turtle that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - Description of two new species of turtles, from the Lance Formation of Wyoming. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 50(2137):614-646. - C. W. Gilmore - 1916. - New material of Gilmoremys lancensis nov. comb. … Read more
In Depth There is some confusion regarding Geosaurus reconstructions as there were once both long and short snouted forms of the genus. One former species of Geosaurus in particular known as G. suevicus was an almost complete specimen which was commonly used as a base for the majority of early Geosaurus reconstructions. Later analysis in … Read more
In Depth With holotype fossils initially described as specimens of Rubeosaurus, Stellasaurus is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous. Although little fossil material exists of Stellasaurus at the time of writing, the dinosaur has been reconstructing as having two large upwards pointing spikes rising from the … Read more
In Depth Along with Magyarosaurus, Ampelosaurus is currently one of the best known sauropods from Europe and is in fact another example of a Late Cretaceous era titanosaur. Remains of Ampelosaurus have been found in what would have been a floodplain in the late Cretaceous. However when the fossils were discovered they were now near … Read more
In Depth Though only known from fragmentary remains, Graciliraptor has been a key find for our understanding of dromaeosaurid dinosaurs as it represents one of the earliest known appearances of such a creature. At the time of its description in 2004, Graciliraptor was considered to be a close relative of the famous Microraptor, and like … Read more
In Depth Segisaurus was once considered to be a very important link in the evolution of theropods because it was thought to have had solid bones instead of the hollow bones of other earlier genera such as Coelophysis. However a later study into the holotype remains that took place in 2005 (Carrano, Hutchinson & Sampson) … Read more
In Depth Along with Sinornithomimus, Shenzhousaurus is one of the few ornithomimosaurs that are known to have had gastroliths inside their stomachs. This has led to the suggestion that Shenzhousaurus had a greater leaning towards a herbivorous diet since gastroliths are usually associated with herbivorous animals. However it is not unknown for some predatory animals … Read more
In Depth Madtsoia is the genus that was used to name the Madtsoiidae group of prehistoric snakes that include others such as Gigantophis of North Africa to the much later Wonambi of Australia. Madtsoia is one of the older members with fossils indicating that it was active during the time of the dinosaurs. Unfortunately no … Read more