In Depth Dating back around one-hundred and fifty-two million years ago, Stokesosaurus is one of the earliest representatives of the tyrannosaur lineage, being only slightly later than Guanlong. At up to four meters long, Stokesosaurus resembled the juvenile forms of later tyrannosarids, and was a fleet footed predator relying upon speed to catch prey. Stokesosaurus … Read more
In Depth Named only from armoured plates, Glyptodontopelta is a genus of nodosaur that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous. The name Glyptodontopelta means ‘Glyptodon shield’, a reference to its similarity to the armour of the genus Glyptodon, a large ground dwelling xenarthran mammal that lived much later in South America during the … Read more
In Depth As dedicated eaters of shellfish, the placodonts had no need to grow big and were soon outsized by other marine reptiles such as the nothosaurs. As such placodonts like Cyamodus developed turtle-like shells to try and make themselves too tough for other marine reptiles to eat. Cyamodus itself had two shells, the first … Read more
In Depth Yonghesuchus is a genus of small arhcosaur that lived in China during the Triassic. Although a total body length is unknown at the time of writing, the small skull size alone indicates that Yonghesuchus would have been a small animal, and a predator of animals even smaller than itself. Further Reading - The … Read more
In Depth The holotype remains of Vinialesaurus were initially known as a species of Cryptoclidus when it was first described in 1949, but later study has now revealed that there is enough difference between the Vinialesaurus holotype remains of other fossils of Cryptoclidus. As a cryptoclidid plesiosaur, Vinialesaurus would have likely been one of the … Read more
In Depth Luchibang is a genus of pterosaur that lived in Asia during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - An unusual new genus of istiodactylid pterosaur from China based on a near complete specimen. - Palaeontologia Electronica. 23 (1): Article number 23(1):a09. - David W. E. Hone, Adam J. Fitch, Feimin Ma & Xing Xu … Read more
In Depth The first Dolichorhynchops specimens were recovered in 1900 by George F. and Charles H. Sternberg from the Smokey Hill Chalk Formation. After being named by Samuel Wendell Williston in 1902, the type specimen has been a regular feature in the display of the Museum of Kansas. The establishment of two additional species (D. … Read more
In Depth Palaeontology as we know it today has its foundation in nineteenth century Europe and dinosaurs first began to be named and classified in England in the first half of that century. As the first named dinosaur, Megalosaurus was the first dinosaur genus to have a taxonomic placement amongst other recognised animals, however this … Read more
In Depth The holotype specimen of Excalibosaurus was discovered in 1984, and consisted of partial remains of a skull and some of the post cranial skeleton such as ribs, vertebrae, forefin and an incomplete pectoral girdle. When pieced together these remains recreated an individual that was estimated to have been up to four meters long, … Read more
In Depth Initially named in 1918, Notoceratops may not only be the first ceratopsian dinosaur named from South America, but all of Gondwana, the southern collection of landmasses that split from the Northern continents during the Mesozoic. Not everyone was initially convinced however, and even to this day some still question the validity of Notoceratops … Read more