In Depth Chelosphargis was originally named as species of Protostega in 1906 by Oliver Perry Hay. However the description of Calcarichelys in 1953 led a later palaeontologist, Rainer Zangerl to conclude that P. advena should be reclassified as a distinct genus. Chelosphargis is regarded as being almost identical to Calcarichelys, a turtle with a series … Read more
In Depth Classification and controversy of validity. Stenonychosaurus is a genus of troodontid dinosaur that spent much of its time depicted as a synonym to Troodon. Stenonychosaurus itself was first named in 1932 and for much of the twentieth century it was occasionally depicted as a small predatory dinosaur. Stenonychosaurus would also become the inspiration … Read more
In Depth First named in 1996, Siamotyrannus was originally thought to represent one of the earliest known occurrences of a large tyrannosaur, hence the name Siamotyrannus which combines the old name for Thailand, Siam, with the ancient Greek for tyrant. However later studies of Siamotyrannus have come to the conclusion that Siamotyrannus was not a … Read more
In Depth Not too much can be said about Tochisaurus because so far it is only known from a couple of foot bones, However these bones do seem to be most similar to those seen in troodontid dinosaurs. Additionally with lengths of about twenty-four and twenty-two centimetres long, the foot bones of Tochisaurus do indicate … Read more
In Depth Patagonia is a hot bed for dinosaur fossils, although it’s usually the dramatic giants such as Giganotosaurus and Argentinosaurus that that take the spotlight. Bonapartenykus was much smaller than these two dinosaurs, however for the purposes of palaeontology and understanding of Mesozoic Patagonia it is at least just as important. First is the … Read more
In Depth Zhejiangosaurus is not completely known, nor does it seem to show any special features beyond being a nodosaurid. This identification is itself important however since the only two other Asian nodosaurids named before this, Zhongyuansaurus and Liaoningosaurus, have now been re-classified as ankylosaurids. At the time of its description this makes Zhejiangosaurus the … Read more
In Depth Macroplata is classed as a rhomaleosaurid pliosaur, a group notable for having proportionately longer necks and smaller skulls than the more well-known short necked large skulled pliosaurs such as Liopleurodon, Simolestes and of course Pliosaurus itself. A better analogy is that Macroplata looks like a cross between the longer necked plesiosaurs of the … Read more
In Depth Pissarrachampsa is a genus of terrestrial crocodile that lived in Brazil during the late Cretaceous. The precise point of time of the Cretaceous is still debated as some point between the Turonian and the Maastrichtian. All that is known for certain is that the holotype fossils of Pissarrachampsa came from the Vale do … Read more
In Depth The crocodiles seem to have been quite resilient to the effects of the KT extinction sixty-five million years ago that marked the death of the dinosaurs, as Brachychampsa is yet another genus of crocodylian that is known to have existed for several million years before and after this extinction event. Dyrosaurus is another … Read more
In Depth For its type Macroleter were fairly large predators that were procolopophonid parareptiles. One former species of Seymouria, S. agilis has been re-assigned as a second species of Macroleter. This makes the type species of Macroleter, M. poezicus known from Russia, and the second species, M. agilis known from the USA. There is also … Read more