In Depth Itilochelys is a genus of turtle that lived in the waters over what is now Russia during the Palaeocene. Further Reading – Itilochelys rasstrigin gen. et sp. nov., a new hard-shelled sea turtle (Cheloniidae sensu lato) from the Lower Palaeocene of Volgograd Province, Russia. – Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RSA 314(1):24-41. – … Read more
In Depth An evaluation of a species of Stenopterygius, S. hauffianus, yielded two things. One, many of the remains of this species could actually be attributed to the Stenopterygius type species, S. quadriscissus. Two, remains that differed from these other fossils were of a new and previously un-described genus of ichthyosaur, hence the re-description and … Read more
In Depth Belebey were bolosaurid parareptiles that lived during the early and mid stages of the Permian. Like other members of the Bolosauridae, Belebey were probably herbivores given that their teeth were most suited to processing plants. The type species of the genus from Russia, B. vegrandis could grow to around thirty-five centimetres long, but … Read more
In Depth Xianshanosaurus is a genus of titanosaur that lived in China during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - A preliminary report on the new dinosaurian fauna from the Cretaceous of the Ruyang Basin, Henan Province of central China. - Journal of the Paleontological Society of Korea 25(1):43-56. - J. L�, L. Xu, X. Jiang, … Read more
In Depth Today the Yixian Formation of China is one of the most famous and most studied fossil bearing formations in the world with many significant prehistoric animals such as Eomaia, Graciliraptor, Confuciusornis, Dilong, Beipiaosaurus, Yutyrannus, Sinocalliopteryx and Psittacosaurus all amongst many, many other animals all being found there. However what many people do not … Read more
In Depth Like with many early theropods, especially European ones, Metriacanthosaurus was originally named as a species of Megalosaurus, a dinosaur that in the early years of palaeontology ended up being used as a wastebasket taxon for almost any theropod remains. The initial naming was made by the German palaeontologist Friedrich von Huene, who named … Read more
In Depth Changyuraptor is another of an increasing number of dromaeosaurid dinosaurs that have been dubbed ‘four-winged dromaeosaurs’. This is because Changyuraptor did not just have well developed pennaceous feathers on the arms; they also grew from the back of the legs. The first of these dromaeosaurs to be described was Microraptor which is speculated … Read more
In Depth Named in 2001, Quilmesaurus is so far known only from two right leg bones, and one of those is incomplete. This makes it very hard to establish details about Quilmesaurus, but assuming that the genus has similar body proportions to other abelisaurid dinosaurs then it is possible to scale the existing fossils of … Read more
In Depth Barapasaurus was an Early Jurassic sauropod that seems to be caught in between other sauropod forms. The vertebrae of Barapasaurus are solid which has seen this sauropod placed within the Cetiosauridae, however the narrow sacrum is more characteristic of the Vulcanodontidae sauropods. Palaeontologists are split as to which placement is the most valid … Read more
In Depth Terrestrisuchus was a small crocodylomorph that was well suited to life on land. The legs were fairly long and supported the body from underneath rather than from the sides and the feet were digitigrade, meaning that Terrestrisuchus walked on its toes. This meant that Terrestrisuchus was a fairly quick and agile predator of … Read more