In Depth The holotype fossil of a partial jaw of Regnosaurus was recovered by Gideon Mantell who considered it to belong to an unknown large prehistoric animal. Mantell would later name his animal Igaunodon, though it was still referred to as a big lizard since the word dinosaur had still not been invented. Mantell realised … Read more
In Depth Discovered in the increasingly famous Hațeg basin of Romania, Paludititan was a genus of titanosaurian dinosaur that lived in Eastern Europe towards the end of the Cretaceous period. Paludititan is not the first titanosaur to be named from this part of the world, the dwarf titanosaur Magyarosaurus was named earlier and seems to … Read more
In Depth Named in reference to the more famous Triceratops, Eotriceratops was a large ceratopsian dinosaur of the late Cretaceous. At three meters long from the snout to the tip of the neck frill, the skull of Eotriceratops is also immense. The skull at the base of the left brow horn has bite marks which … Read more
In Depth Chiayusaurus is a highly dubious genus of sauropod dinosaur because the type species is based upon the description of a tooth crown. The problem with such tooth taxons is that unless in exceptionally rare cases (like with Troodon), it is next to impossible to assign further remains. Even a second species named C. … Read more
In Depth During its taxonomic history Gwyneddosaurus has been identified as being several different types of animals, from a theropod dinosaur to a protosaur. Today however the wider consensus is that Gwyneddosaurus was a relative to the better known Tanystropheus, a marine reptile noted for having a particularly long neck. The type specimen of Gwyneddosaurus … Read more
In Depth Niebla is a genus of abelisaurid dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. Though only known from partial remains, Niebla seems to have actually been quite a small abelisaurid dinosaur, perhaps only about half of the size of some of the larger abelisaurid dinosaurs that were also roaming around South … Read more
In Depth Rhoetosaurus was the first sauropod dinosaur discovered in Australia, and for a long time it was one of only two sauropods, the other being Austrosaurus, known to have come from there. In 2009 two other sauropods called Diamantinasaurus and Wintonotitan were named, although all four are only represented by partial remains. Although it … Read more
In Depth During the earliest portion of its taxonomic history Megapnosaurus was known as Syntarsus after the initial description by Raath in 1969. Later a trio of other palaeontologists (Ivie, Slipinski and Węgrzynowicz) discovered that the name Syntarsus had already been given to a beetle in 1869. In 2001 they renamed the dinosaur Syntarsus remains … Read more
In Depth Named after the Polish word for dragon, the full name Smok wawelski is actually in reference to a dragon that was said to live in a cave near the fossil site. Since the remains were first dug up in 2007, and first described in 2008, Smok has been referred to as a saurischian … Read more
In Depth Dongyangopelta is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur that lived in South-east China around the early/late Cretaceous boundary. Nodosaurids were similar to ankylosaurids, though they lacked the clubbed tail and usually had narrower skulls. Another genus of nodosaurid dinosaur named Zhejiangosaurus is also known from this part of China, though there are clear differences … Read more