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
In Depth As a basal therizinosaur Beipiaosaurus revealed some surprising characteristics, hence the species name inexpectus. One of these characteristics is the underdeveloped inner toes, something that is very different to later therizinosaurids which have all four toes developed and in contact with the ground. This has been taken as an indication of a three … Read more
In Depth Another European ornithopod that was once described as a species of Camptosaurus, Cumnoria was established as a distinct genus in 1888. At three and a half meters long for the first (and at the time of writing only) individual found, it may be that Cumnoria was a fairly small ornithopod. However, studies of … Read more
In Depth Vesperopterylus is a genus of anurognathid pterosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - Short note on a new anurognathid pterosaur with evidence of perching behaviour from Jianchang of Liaoning Province, China. - J. L�, Q. Meng, B. Wang, D. Liu, C. Shen & Y.Zhang - 2017.
In Depth Initially thought to be one of the most primitive birds in the fossil record, later studies have depicted Jinfengopteryx as a small troodontid theropod dinosaur. This new interpretation has been derived from observation of the form of the skull and the presence of an enlarged sickle claw on the second toe of each … Read more
In Depth Originally named as a species of Steneosaurus, S. obtusidens was renamed as a distinct genus in 2017. The describers created the name Lemmysuchus which means ‘Lemmy’s crocodile’. This was in honour of Ian Fraser Kilmister, the lead singer and founder of the band Mot�rhead, who everyone knew as Lemmy. Lemmysuchus was a thalattosuchian, … Read more
In Depth Struthiosaurus seems to have been fairly common across Europe during the Late Cretaceous, a time when much of continental Europe was more like an island chain. Originally based upon fragmentary Austrian material, many genera named by Harry Govier Seeley late in the nineteenth century have now been synonymised with Struthiosaurus. This combined with … Read more
In Depth Named in 2016 from a single specimen, Viavenator is another of the growing number of South American abelisaurid dinosaurs that are known to us. At a glance Viavenator does not seem to be anything special apart from being another abelisaur, however the authors of the paper describing this dinosaur have identified a combination … Read more
In Depth Gamerabaena is a genus of baenid turtle that lived in North America towards the end of the Cretaceous period. Gamerabaena is named after the fictional kaiju Gamera, a gigantic turtle-like monster that has featured in a whole series of Japanese monster films in a similar fashion as Godzilla. Further Reading - A new … Read more