In Depth Back in the Cretaceous North America was divided into two land masses due to the presence of the Western Interior Seaway, a shallow sea that submerged the central portions of North America all the way from Canada to Mexico. These two land masses were Appalachia in the east, and Laramidia in the west, … Read more
In Depth Saurornithoides seems for lack of a better description an Asian counterpart to the famous Troodon from North America. It shares many morphological similarites including being of a comparble size, large eyes and large brain. For this reason Saurornithoides is thought to have been a nocturnal hunter with the large eyes being of more … Read more
In Depth The best specimen of Grippia was destroyed in World War II, so today we have only this description and other less complete specimens left to study. This makes the key question about what this early ichthyosaur ate very difficult to answer. Early ideas had Grippia down as a predator of armoured prey like … Read more
In Depth Another plesiosaur named Kimmerosaurus is known from the Kimmeridge Clay, and interestingly while Colymbosaurus is known only from incomplete post cranial remains, Kimmerosaurus is known only from the skull and a few cervical vertebra. This has led to speculation that the two genera are actually one and the same species. However, only the … Read more
In Depth Adocus is a genus of freshwater cryptodiran turtle that lived in both Asia and North America. Most Canadian and American fossils are confirmed as coming from Cretaceous deposits, however some fossils are determined as coming from deposits after the Cretaceous, with some as recent as the late Oligocene. Adocus is known to have … Read more
In Depth Very little was known about Caviramus when it was discovered as it was only known from a ramus (part of the side of the lower jaw) and two teeth. This lack of knowledge continued until 2009 when another pterosaur from the same area, Raeticodactylus, was found to have been identical to the fragment … Read more
In Depth Giganotosaurus made headlines around the world when it was discovered simply for the fact that it was a carnivorous dinosaur that was bigger than Tyrannosaurus. Although the current estimate of Giganotosaurus has it approaching a length of thirteen meters, analysis of a dentary from a second individual suggests that it could grow even … Read more
In Depth Trinisaura was a fairly small ornithopod dinosaur that lived in Antarctica back before it became covered by snow and ice. Not that much can be inferred about the lifestyle of Trinisaura due to lack of more complete remains, but as a small ornithopod it probably roamed around on just its rear legs as … Read more
In Depth Macrocollum is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Triassic. Further Reading - An exceptionally preserved association of complete dinosaur skeletons reveals the oldest long-necked sauropodomorphs. - Biology Letters 14:20180633:1-5. - R. T. M�ller, M. C. Langer & S. Dias-da-Silva - 2018.
In Depth Originally thought to represent a juvenile Oviraptor, Conchoraptor was established as a distinct genus in 1986. While the snout of the skull is raised like in other oviraptorids, Conchoraptor does not possess a head crest like most other known oviraptorids. Rinchen Barsbold, the palaeontologist who first described Conchoraptor speculated that Conchoraptor, and possibly … Read more