In Depth Draigwenia is a genus of pterosaur that lived in Europe during the early Cretaceous. Draigwenia is only known from a jaw fragment which over time has previously been attributed to Ornithocheirus, Amblydectes and Lonchodectes before being moved to a distinct genus in 2021. Further reading - On the validity of the genus Amblydectes … Read more
In Depth While the plesiosaurs are usually seen as predators of fish Aristonectes took the different and much more specialist path of filter feeder. The teeth in the jaws were very short with crowns that were less than one centimetre high. There were a high number of these teeth which were densely packed together in … Read more
In Depth Sektensaurus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new ornithopod dinosaur (Dinosauria; Ornithischia) from the Late Cretaceous of central Patagonia. - Cretaceous Research. - L�cio M. Ibiricu, Gabriel A.Casal, Rub�n D. Mart�nez, Marcelo Luna, Juan I. Canale, Bruno N. �lvarez & … Read more
In Depth Although Globidens was not the only mosasaur to adapt to a diet of almost exclusively hard shelled animals, it does display perhaps the most specialised teeth. Rather than the sharp conical teeth seen in other mosasaurs such as Tylosaurus and Taniwhasaurus, Globidens had rounded teeth that had a ‘globe shaped’ upper portion of … Read more
In Depth Drepanosaurus is the type genus of the Drepanosauridae, a special group of diapsid reptiles that are noted for having prehensile tails. What this means is that the tail could be wrapped around objects for additional grip. In addition to this there was a hook on the end of the tail that provided even … Read more
In Depth Epichirostenotes was originally discovered in 1923 before being described in 1997 as a specimen of Chirostenotes pergracilis by Hans-Dieter Sues. Further study and description in 2011 saw this specimen described as its own genus. The type species E. curriei is in honour of the palaeontologist Philip Currie. Although only known from incomplete material, … Read more
In Depth Linlongopterus is a genus of pterosaurs that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new toothed pteranodontoid (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from the Jiufotang Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Aptian) of China and comments on Liaoningopterus gui Wang and Zhou, 2003. - Historical Biology 27(6):782-795. - T. Rodrigues, S. Jiang, X. Cheng, X. … Read more
In Depth Although named in 1999, Mollesaurus got declared as a synonym to Ophthalmosaurus in the following year by a review of the Ophthalmosaurus genus by palaeontologists Michael W. Maisch and Andreas T. Matzke in 2000. This conclusion remained for about ten years until 2010 when a further study by Patrick S. Druckenmiller and Erin … Read more
In Depth Sarcolestes is a genus of ankylosaur that lived in England during the mid-Jurassic. Unfortunately the only part of this dinosaur that is known is a lower jaw bone, so it is difficult to infer much more about this dinosaur. The lack of fossil remains has also cast doubt upon the validity of this … Read more
In Depth Though only named for a partial jaw, Labidiosuchus is still quite interesting as reconstructions of the lower jaw have indicated that it would have had a Y-shaped profile, hence the name Labidiosuchus which translates as ‘forceps crocodile’. Further Reading - A new cretaceous notosuchian (Mesoeucrocodylia) with bizarre dentition from Brazil. - Zoological Journal … Read more