In Depth Ophthalmothule is a genus of cryptoclidid plesiosaur known to have lived towards the end of the Jurassic, possibly early Cretaceous. Ophthalmothule is noted to have very large eye sockets, something which obviously suggests the presence of very large eyes. Large eyes would be able to trap more light, even at the lower murkier … Read more
In Depth Loricatosaurus was named as part of a study that concluded that the type species of Lexovisaurus was based upon un-diagnostic material, and that other remains cannot be attributed to it. Although many palaeontologists still treat Lexovisaurus as a valid genus, many of the fossils once assigned to it have now been named as … Read more
In Depth Borealosaurus is a genus of titanosaurid dinosaur that lived in China around the boundary of the early/late Cretaceous. Though only known from partial remains, Borealosaurus has been interpreted as being potentially related to the better known Opisthocoelicaudia. In addition to this the Japanese titanosaur Fukuititan has also been interpreted as a close relation … Read more
In Depth Many people often think that Sinraptor will be another dromaeosaurid dinosaur, when in actual fact it was a medium sized theropod of a similar build to Allosaurus. This is not the first instance that a non dromaeosaurid dinosaur has been given the inclusion of ‘raptor’ in its name with others such as Fukuiraptor … Read more
In Depth Polesinesuchus is one of a growing number of aetosaur genera that are steadily being discovered from Triassic aged rock formations in South America. Polesinesuchus is a stagonolepid aetosaur, meaning that it was more similar to genera such as Stagonolepis. Further Reading - A new aetosaur from the Upper Triassic of the Santa Maria … Read more
In Depth The almost complete specimen of Monolophosaurus was first discovered in 1984. This exciting find was initially named ‘Jiangjunmiaosaurus’ after Jiangjunmiao, an abandoned inn near where the skeleton was found, but it was never an official name hence the lack of italics and its description as a nomen nudum (a name that is not … Read more
In Depth Unaysaurus is the first confirmed sauropodomorph dinosaur to be named from Brazil, though there is speculation that another genus named in 1999 called Teyuwasu might also be a sauropodomorph. The closest relative to Unaysaurus is thought to be the famous Plateosaurus from Germany. Further Reading - A new early dinosaur (Sauropodomorpha) from the … Read more
In Depth Originally described as a species of the polycotylid plesiosaur Trinacomerum, T. lafquenianum was later re-described as a distinct genus of short necked elasmosaurid plesiosaur. Kawanectes is similar to the larger Vegasaurus. Because the bones in Kawanectes have complete fusion in them, we can tell that Kawanectes was fully grown at the time of … Read more
In Depth Despite its long history and broad geographic range, Simolestes surprisingly remains a little known pliosaur, certainly no way near as famous as the often over exaggerated Liopleurodon. Simolestes does not have the best fossil representation, but comparison to other pliosaurs has yielded estimates of up to six meters long for the living animal. … Read more
In Depth Hispaniasaurus is a genus of possible nothosaur that lived in Spain during the mid Triassic. Further Reading - An enigmatic marine reptile, Hispaniasaurus cranioelongatus (gen. et sp. nov.) with nothosauroid affinities from the Ladinian of the Iberian Range (Spain). - Historical Biology 1-11. - A. Marquez-Aliaga, N. Klein, M. Reolid, P. Plasencia, J. … Read more