In Depth Very little is known about Asiaceratops because the currently known fossils of this dinosaur are so fragmentary that some researchers have even questioned the validity of the genus. Further Reading - [Mesozoic ceratopsian dinosaurs and crocodiles of central Asia]. In: Bogdanova and Khozatskii (eds.), Theoretical and Applied Aspects of Modern Palaeontology pp 144-154. … Read more
In Depth Samrukia is a genus that illustrated the dangers of naming prehistoric creatures by only partial remains. The original describers of Samrukia (Naish et al.) had a single jawbone that was first thought to belong to an ovirapotosaurian theropod dinosaur, but then later thought to belong to a bird. This raised a lot of … Read more
In Depth Labidosaurikos should not be confused with the similarly named Labidosaurus, another captorhinid that lived in the same approximate locations as Labidosaurikos. In fact the name Labidosaurikos means ‘similar to Labisosaurus‘. Labidosaurikos seems to have been a bit larger and heavier than its relative, and is noted for having a robust and fairly ornate … Read more
In Depth A member of the Crocodyloidea which includes surviving modern species, Arenysuchus is still regarded as a more basal form due to the frontal skull bones contacting the fenestra (openings) on top of the skull. At the time of writing only a partial skull of Arenysuchus is known, but at just under twenty centimetres … Read more
In Depth Well preserved dinosaur remains are rare from Australia, but Minmi is one of the exceptions. This is in part due to the small body size of Minmi which meant that it would have been more easily buried than a larger animal, something that would have protected the remains from being scattered by scavengers … Read more
In Depth Megalancosaurus is one of the better known of the drepanosaurs, a special group of reptiles that possessed tails that could hook around branches. With an additional hook on the end of their tails, Megalancosaurus are believed to have walked along the branches of Triassic era tree canopies, hunting for small invertebrates to eat. … Read more
In Depth Originally named as a species of Shweboemys, Brontochelys is a little known genus of side-necked turtle that lived in Pakistan during the early Miocene. The type species is named in honour of Eugene Gaffney for his work on turtles. Further Reading - A review of the fossil Pelomedusidae (Testudines, Pleurodira) of Asia. Breviora … Read more
In Depth So far at the time of writing the only known fossils of Kol are of a complete foot. This foot however is enough to identify Kol as an alvarezsaurid dinosaur, and one that was fairly big. The foot of the Kol holotype specimen is about twice the size of the foot of Shuvuuia, … Read more
In Depth Coahuilaceratops attained overnight fame amongst the ceratopsian dinosaurs because it is thought to have the longest brow horns of any within the group. Although no single complete horn has yet been found, palaeontologists studying Coahuilaceratops spent a lot of careful time and effort comparing the available material to other similar chasmosaurine ceratopsians to … Read more
In Depth Comahuesuchus is a notosuchian crocodile that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous period. The description of Anatosuchus in 2003 led to the idea that Anatosuchus and Comahuesuchus were close relatives, however a 2006 paper by Andrade, Bertini and Pinheiro came to the conclusion that they were not closely related. Instead a … Read more