In Depth Originally named as a species of Icthyosaurus by Wagner in 1853, Aegirosaurus was raised as a distinct genus by Bardet & Fernandez some one hundred and forty-seven years later. This is in part down to the wastebasket taxon effect, a common practice in the nineteenth century that saw similar prehistoric animals grouped together … Read more
In Depth Fossils of Wiehenvenator were first discovered in 1998 around the Wiehen Hills in Germany. When compared to some other theropod dinosaurs such as Allosaurus, these fossils were noted as being of a potentially huge size which led to estimates of up to fifteen metres in length being recorded in popular media for many … Read more
In Depth Although discovered in 1972, Gallimimus was a relatively little known dinosaur until its appearance in the 1993 movie blockbuster Jurassic Park. In one of the more famous scenes of this film a whole herd of Gallimimus gets chased by the Tyrannosaurus before one slips and is killed by this predator. Although science fiction, … Read more
In Depth Gryposaurus has a long standing and convoluted association with the genus Kritosaurus to the point that in the 1920‘s Gryposaurus was actually regarded as a synonym to Kritosaurus. Later study has since interpreted Gryposaurus as a distinct genus, but this thinking has had the effect of emptying most of the known material for … Read more
In Depth Currently considered to be a megalosauroid theropod, Piatnitzkysaurus was a smaller medium sized theropod of the Jurassic. As a predator Piatnitzkysaurus probably hunted other small dinosaurs and possibly even those slightly larger than itself. It is also almost a certainty that Piatnitzkysaurus would scavenge the carcasses of dead dinosaurs when able, since scavenging … Read more
In Depth Osonachelus is a genus of turtle that lived in Spain during the Eocene. Further Reading - An exceptional cheloniid turtle, Osonachelus decorata nov. gen., nov. sp., from the Eocene (Bartonian) of Catalonia (Spain). - Geobios 47(3):111-132. - F. de Lapparent de Broin, X. Murelaga, F. Farr�s & J. Altimiras - 2014.
In Depth Although easily one of the oldest known pterosaurs, Peteinosaurus has not been well preserved. Still, Peteinosaurus does display features that are similar to Preondactylus, to the extent that the suggestion has been put forward that the two genera are actually one and the same genus, just at different life stages. If this is … Read more
In Depth The holotype remains of Murusraptor were first recovered across 2001 and 2002, but were not described in a scientific paper until 2016. Murusraptor is identified as a megaraptoran theropod dinosaur, and one of potentially large size. The holotype individual of Murusraptor has been estimated to have been just short of six and a … Read more
In Depth One of the many Cretaceous era South American titanosaurian sauropods, Argyrosaurus was also one of the first to be named. The holotype of Argyrosaurus is based upon a left forelimb with further post cranial remains being added to the genus later. However in at least one instance some of these additional fossils have … Read more
In Depth The type specimen of Megacephalosaurus was originally assigned to the Brachauchenius genus, leading to the idea that Brachauchenius was one of the biggest of its time. The removal of this skull has led to a size revision of Brachauchenius, and the establishment of a new genus, Megacephalosaurus. However this still means that there … Read more