In Depth Classification and naming history of Rhomaleosaurus The first remains of Rhomaleosaurus were originally named by Alexander Carte and W. H. Bailey as a species of Plesiosaurus, P. cramptoni, which was in honour of Sir Philip Crampton, an anatomist who brought the remains to wider public attention. In 1874 Harry Govier Seeley found the … Read more
In Depth Haplocanthosaurus was a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Jurassic period. The name Haplocanthosaurus was actually the second choice of name for this dinosaur as the palaeontologist who first described it, John Bell Hatcher, originally chose the name Haplocanthus. However, after this Hatcher became aware of a … Read more
In Depth Though only known from fragmentary fossil remains, Patagosuchus is noted for having a diverse heterodont dentition. What this means is that Patagosuchus had many different kinds of teeth, and would have been able to adapt differing feeding strategies. Patagosuchus is also classed as a peirosaurid crocodylomorph, and these are usually small meat eaters … Read more
In Depth Streptospondylus could have become the first dinosaur to be scientifically recognised. Starting in 1770 vertebrae and limb remains were steadily recovered and over the course of the following years many fossils for separate locations were collected before being sent to the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France in 1800. These fossils were … Read more
In Depth Fossils of Bonapartesaurus were first assigned to the genus Willinakaqe. However a few years after naming Willinakaqe, Palaeontologists came to the conclusion that that genus was based upon the collection of several different kinds of hadrosaur. This included the Paratype material of Willinakaqe which became the genus Bonapartesaurus. Bonapartesaurus was a medium sized … Read more
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