In Depth The first pachycepahlosaurid dinosaur known from Alaska, Alaskacephale is also one of the few dinosaurs known to have lived in the area that would become that state. Unfortunately not a lot is known about this dinosaur because of a current sever lack of remains, but the original describers believe that Alaskacephale may have … Read more
In Depth Named in 2011, Decuriasuchus seems to have been like many predatory archosaurs in appearance, moderate in size, and capable of taking down similar sized animals. What has made palaeontologists sit up take notice however is that when Decuriasuchus was first found they didn’t find just one, but nine individuals buried together, with a … Read more
In Depth Corythoraptor is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in China during the late Cretaceous. Corythoraptor has been described as having a head crest similar to that of a modern day cassowary. The beak of Corythoraptor was also more pointed towards the end, suggesting feeding specialisation. Corythoraptor is one of many oviraptorid dinosaurs … Read more
In Depth Pristichampsus is a crocodile that bears all of the hallmarks of a terrestrial lifestyle rather than an aquatic one like todays crocodiles. The key clues to this lifestyle can be seen in the legs which are longer than those of semi-aquatic crocodiles to allow for more terrestrial locomotion. Additionally the ends of the … Read more
In Depth Nicrosaurus is another one of the phytosaurs, reptiles that have a striking similarity to modern crocodiles, although the position of the nostrils higher up the snout and in front of the eyes is a dead giveaway that Nicrosaurus is a phytosaur (crocodiles have their nostrils on the tips of their snouts). Nicrosaurus is … Read more
In Depth The fragmentary nature of Shaochilong resulted in it being included into the Chilantaisaurus genus, a theropod dinosaur also from the Ulansuhai Formation. However while fragmentary, the fossil remains for C. maortuensis were much larger that the estimated length of two and a half meters for other Chilantaisaurus material. Questions were first raised about … Read more
In Depth Thalassomedon is regarded as a mid-sized elasmosaurid plesiosaur, especially when compared with larger genera like Mauisaurus. The distribution of Thalassomedon remains show that it swam in the Western Interior Seaway, a Cretaceous sea that divided North America into two halves. Thalassomedon is so far only known from the early stages of the Late … Read more
In Depth Rhamphosuchus is thought to have looked like a modern day false gharial, crocodiles that have proportionately thin and long snouts compared to other crocodiles.Rhamphosuchus itself however was much larger, although to what extent remains uncertain. This is because Rhamphosuchus is currently only known from very fragmentary material that makes reconstruction of the skull … Read more
In Depth When fossils of this dinosaur were originally described as Lambeosaurus laticaudus, the estimated size of the species was given as between fifteen and sixteen and a half meters long, something that causes inaccurate size quotations for Lambeosaurus to this day even though larger individuals of this genus are around the nine meter mark. … Read more
In Depth Certainly one of the more difficult dinosaur names to pronounce, Mnyamawamtuka is a genus of titanosaur that lived in Africa during the Cretaceous. The holotype of Mnyamawamtuka is recognised as one of the most complete titanosaurs ever discovered. The high level of completeness may be down to the fact that this creature was … Read more