In Depth Phonodus has been described as a genus of procolophonid that lived in South Africa during the earliest part of the Permian. With Phonodus being the fifth such genus from this time and location, this suggests that the procolophonids survived fairly well during the extinction that signalled the end of the Permian. Phonodus is … Read more
In Depth There is a lot of mystery surrounding Iliosuchus as the genus is only based upon the description of three ilia. These parts are not diagnostic enough to clearly identify what kind of theropod dinosaur Iliosuchus was, though in England during the Mid Jurassic the dominant theropod dinosaurs were the megalosaurs. A similarity to … Read more
In Depth At the time of its description in 2015, Eophis was known as one of the oldest snakes to appear. So early and primitive is Eophis, that this snake still had four legs, all very small and underdeveloped, but visibly present none the less. Despite these primitive features, Eophis already has a snake like … Read more
In Depth Epidexipteryx was a very special find as not only is it one of the earliest ‘dino-birds’ it also had highly ornate tail feathers. These feathers are thought to have been similar to those of a peacock, and as display feathers, possibly only present in the males for the purpose of attracting females. This … Read more
In Depth Not a lot is known about Qingxiusaurus beyond that the type fossils seem to have come from a titanosaur. Only a few bones of the anterior skeleton and fore limbs are known, making a total size of the dinosaur difficult to establish with certainty. In addition to this the location of the fossil … Read more
In Depth Knoetschkesuchus is a genus of small crocodylomorph that lived in Europe during the late Jurassic. The type species, K. langenbergensis is known from Germany. Another species, K. guimarotae (formerly assigned to the Theriosuchus genus) is known from Portugal. The small size of Knoetschkesuchus meant that it would have been a predator of smaller … Read more
In Depth The establishment of Bentonyx as a genus actually began in 2008 when a species of Rhynchosaurus, R. spenceri was re-named as its own genus called Fodonyx. Further study into the fossils that went into establishing the Fodonyx genus found that one of the skulls was actually different. In 2010 this skull was split … Read more
In Depth Tugulusaurus is a little known genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. Sometimes considered to be a dubious genus, Tugulusaurus has been re-affirmed as valid as recently as the early twenty-first century. Tugulusaurus is usually attributed as a coelurosaurian theropod, though the original describer Dong Zhiming speculated that … Read more
In Depth Fossils of Eonatator were originally assigned to the genus Clidastes and then later still to the genus Halisaurus. Eventually Eonatator was established as a distinct genus in 2005 and today is regarded as a halisaurine mosasaur. Eonatator was relatively small when compared to other mosasaurs, but the simple fact fossils for Eonatator range … Read more
In Depth Harpymimus was a primitive member of the Ornithomimosauria and although geographically separated by several thousand miles, similar to Pelecanimimus. Harpymimus seems to display a change in dietary focus from meat to plants, something which is indicated in the upper jaw being toothless, while the only teeth remaining in the lower jaw being small … Read more