In Depth Zhanghenglong was described at the time of its description as a non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid, which translated into simpler terms is a primitive hadrosaur. Hadrosauroids like Zhanghenglong were descended from the older iguanodont ornithopods that rose to prominence during late Jurassic and early Cretaceous. By the earlier stages of the late cretaceous that had evolved … Read more
In Depth Opisthocoelicaudia is a bit of a mouthful to say but is based upon the structure of the caudal vertebrae. The vertebrae connect in a ball and socket fashion, and while the socket part is usually found to point forwards, it’s actually reversed to point backwards in Opisthocoelicaudia. Since this initial discovery however the … Read more
In Depth Zhenyuanlong is an interesting genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur. To start Zhenyuanlong has some of the proportionately shortest arms in relation to leg lengths of any dromaeosaurid, and at the time of the description of the genus in 2015, only Austroraptor and Mahakala are known to have been even more extreme. The radius bone … Read more
In Depth The rauisuchians were the top land predators of the Triassic, and remained so until the appearance of the large theropod dinosaurs. These rauisuchians are usually portrayed as long quadrupedal predators, and for the most part this is true. However there is a surprisingly little known group of bipedal rauisuchians called the poposaurids, of … Read more
In Depth Erliansaurus is a genus of primitive therizinosauroid from the late Cretaceous of Mongolia, and the fact that the holotype comes from around the late Campanian and early Maastrichtian is an indication that Erliansaurus was a late surviving form that managed to exist in Asia at a time when other more advanced therizinosaurs were … Read more
In Depth Garjainia is a close relative of the more famous Erythrosuchus, and like that genus, Garjainia also had what appeared to be an oversized head. This head, filled with numerous sharp teeth would have been the primary killing weapon against the herbivorous animals of the time. Further Reading - A New Species of Garjainia … Read more
In Depth Sebecus is a genus of notosuchian crocodylomorph that is known to have lived in South America during the earliest part of the Eocene. Sebecus would have been predators of other similarly sized animals, but unlike crocodiles that we know today, Sebecus would have been more terrestrial and hunting on the land. Details of … Read more
In Depth Sulaimanisaurus was described by M. Sadiq Malkani in 2006 from seven caudal (tail) vertebrae, with a further four attributed to the genus. Sulaimanisaurus was then classed into the Pakisauridae, created by Malkani, along with Khetranisaurus and Pakisaurus (the latter being the type genus), two more titanosaurs described by Malkani only from caudal vertebrae. … Read more
In Depth Described in 2015, Carnufex may well have been one of the key predators that lived in what would become the eastern USA during the Triassic about 231 million years ago. Carnufex was a crocodylomorph, a distant relative to today’s crocodiles, and one that seems to have been a bipedal predator of moderately sized … Read more
In Depth Mariliasuchus appears to have been an almost entirely terrestrial (living on land) crocodylomorph. The eyes of Mariliasuchus are located more to the sides rather than on top of the head, and the nostrils faced forwards rather than upwards. In aquatic crocodylomorphs both the nostrils and eyes almost always face upwards. Despite this though, … Read more