In Depth Plesiotylosaurus acquired its name for its similarity to another genus of mosasaur called Tylosaurus, one of the largest mosasaurs known. The jaws of Plesiotylosaurus are quite long and attached to a solid robust skull, something that suggests a prey preference for tougher animals. Possible candidates could include marine turtles which are known from … Read more
In Depth Mesosaurus is one of the first reptiles to return to an aquatic lifestyle. The nostrils are on top of the skull and the legs are suited more for aquatic movement than that on land. The tail may have sported a fin similar to the earlier tetrapod amphibians, and the feet were webbed. As … Read more
In Depth Bradysaurus is a primitive genus of pareiasaur that gives an indication to how the pareiasaurs developed. The teeth of Bradysaurus have little in the way of cusps, and are also fairly high crowned. The scutes (osteoderms) in the skin are also not as well developed as those of later forms, which indicates that … Read more
In Depth Shishugounykus is a genus of small alvareszaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Jurassic. Further Reading - A new alvarezsaurian theropod from the Upper Jurassic Shishugou Formation of western China. - Scientific Reports, 9: 11727. - Z. Qin, J. Clark, J. Choiniere & X. Xu - 2019.
In Depth Howesia is a genus of rhynchosaur that lived in South Africa during the mid Triassic. Further Reading - Preliminary notice of some new fossil Reptiles collected by Mr. Alfred Brown at Aliwal North, S. Africa - Records of the Albany Museum 1 (4): 269–275. - Robert broom - 1905. - The rhynchosaur Howesia … Read more
In Depth Bharitalasuchus is a genus of erythrosuchid reptile that lived in South Asia during the middle Triassic. Erythrosuchids are noted for proportionately large heads and were among the key predators of the early and mid-Triassic. Further reading A new erythrosuchid archosauriform from the middle Triassic Yerrapalli Formation of south-central India. - Ameghiniana. 58 (2). … Read more
In Depth Charonosaurus is immediately recognisable to its similarity to the better known Parasaurolophus. However Charonosaurus was seems to have been considerably larger than its North American cousin, as well as living later after Parasaurolophus had disappeared in North America. Like with Parasaurolophus, the crest of Charonosaurus is thought to have served both a display … Read more
In Depth The name of the dinosaur Cathartesaura can be quite confusing. Broken down it can read as ‘Cathartes lizard’, with ‘Cathartes’ a reference to the Cathartes genus which includes the modern day turkey vulture. The full genus and species name of the Turkey vulture however is Cathartes aura, and when you remove the space … Read more
In Depth Lingwulong is a genus of dicraeosaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Jurassic. At the time of writing, Lingwulong is known from the remains of several individuals representing differing growth stages. Further Reading - A new Middle Jurassic diplodocoid suggests an earlier dispersal and diversification of sauropod dinosaurs. - Nature Communications. … Read more
In Depth Living in the late Triassic, Ingentia is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that already shows thickening of bones and a growth to a large stocky size, a foreshadowing of the huge sizes that sauropod dinosaurs would attain in the Jurassic. Since being named Ingentia is regarded as being similar in form to other … Read more