In Depth Although Demandasaurus is not represented by a lot of complete fossil material, it has been identified as a rebbachisaurid sauropod. As a rebbachisaurid, Demandasaurus was a form of diplodocid sauropod, and an offshoot of the Dicraeosaurinae. Demandasaurus would have course been related to the type genus of the Rebbachisauridae, Rebbachisaurus, but it has … Read more
In Depth Paradoxically Micropachycephalosaurus is one of the smallest dinosaurs that we know about, yet it easily has one of the longest names. Micropachycephalosaurus was named from a partially preserved individual that in 1978 was perceived as what we now call a pachycephalosaur. However more modern analysis in the early portion of the twenty-first century … Read more
In Depth Yakemys is a genus of macrobaenid Turtle that lived in South East Asia during the very early Cretaceous. Further reading - Yakemys multiporcata n. g. n. sp., a Large Macrobaenid Turtle from the Basal Cretaceous of Thailand, with a Review of the Turtle Fauna from the Phu Kradung Formation and Its Stratigraphical Implications. … Read more
In Depth The holotype remains of Volkheimeria were found in close proximity to the remains of five individuals of the sauropod Patagosaurus as well as two individuals of the theropod Piatnitzkysaurus. Volkheimeria has a substantially shorter ilium than Patagosaurus, so even though the remains of Volkheimeria are vastly incomplete, it seems to have been a … Read more
In Depth Imperobator is a genus of possible dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived in Antarctica during the late Cretaceous. Further reading - Phylogeny of a new gigantic paravian (Theropoda; Coelurosauria; Maniraptora) from the Upper Cretaceous of James Ross Island, Antarctica. - Cretaceous Research 101:1-16. - R. C. Ely & J. A. Case - 2019.
In Depth Maraapunisaurus was originally described as a species of the sauropod dinosaur Amphicoelias, and based upon the discovery of a partial vertebra reported to be of massive proportions, as well as a distal end of a femur that was also of equally massive proportions. These bones are among the largest dinosaur fossils ever reported, … Read more
In Depth The metriorhynchids are the best known of the thalattosuchians, a group of crocodiles that had adapted themselves to life at sea. Out of these, Tyrannoneustes is considered to be a geosaurine metriorhynchid, (more closely related to genera like Geosaurus). It took quite some time for Tyrannoneustes to be named though, as the fossils … Read more
In Depth Microraptor was first presented to the world as part of the composite fossil called Archaeoraptor, where the tail of a Microraptor was added to the upper body of a Yanornis. Archaeoraptor was a scandalous fake that made headlines around the world, but in the aftermath of this, Microraptor would become known to science. … Read more
In Depth With a holotype specimen only twenty centimetres long Pappochelys seems an unassuming little creature at first glance, however this genus may just revolutionise our construction of the turtle evolutionary family tree. Ever since evolution went from being theory to accepted and proven fact, naturalists have being trying to find the exact place for … Read more
In Depth Originally described as a species of Plesiosaurus, this was the first pliosaur ever named which is why Pliosaurus is used as the type genus of the Pliosauridae. Related to the long necked plesiosaurs the pliosaurs adapted to fill a range of different predatory niches with some like Pliosaurus itself being hunters of other … Read more