In Depth Eopteranodon gets its name from how its jaws and crest look like those on the more famous pterosaur Pteranodon that existed later in the Cretaceous of North America. Eopteranodon however was not only much smaller than Pteranodon but it is actually of a different pterosaur family. Further Reading Further reading- New pterodactyloid pterosaur … Read more
In Depth Taveirosaurus is a tooth taxon of ornithischian dinosaur that lived in Portugal during the late Cretaceous. A tooth taxon is an animal that has only been described by teeth, and in the case of Taveirosaurus there have been many attempts to define what type of ornithiscian dinosaur that it was, almost always with … Read more
In Depth Noripterus appears to have been a scaled down version of the pterosaur Dsungaripterus complete with a more gracile build. However the discovery of a leg bone that was attributed to the new genus Phobetor in 1982 now casts doubts upon this. When studied again, along with further material attributed to Phobetor in 2009, … Read more
In Depth Pseudolagosuchus is a genus of dinosauromorph that live in South America during the Triassic. There has been past speculation that Pseudolagosuchus may actually be a synonym of Lewisuchus. Further Reading - Un nuevo Lagosuchidae (Thecodontia-Pseudosuchia) de la fauna de Los Cha�ares (Edad Reptil Cha�arense, Triasico Medio), La Rioja, Argentina [A new Lagosuchidae (Thecodontia-Pseudosuchia) … Read more
In Depth To date Ekrixinatosaurus is without doubt one of the largest abelisaurid theropods that we currently know about, and even at the lower estimate of ten meters long, Ekrixinatosaurus was still bigger than the far more famous Carnotaurus which at the time of writing seems to have had a maximum size of nine meters … Read more
In Depth When first described Kemkemia was originally thought to be a theropod dinosaur, and one with unusual vertebrae. However, three years after the description of Kemkemia, a new paper re-identified the holotype specimen of Kemkemia as actually being from a crocodile. So far, Kemkemia is only known from a single tail vertebra, which makes … Read more
In Depth Perhaps the easiest way to describe Palaeosaniwa is as a late Cretaceous monitor lizard. Indeed the name Palaeosaniwa actually means ‘ancient Saniwa’, a reference to the genus Saniwa which was a kind of monitor lizard that lived in North America later during the Eocene. The teeth of Palaeosaniwa are flattened like blades with … Read more
In Depth Although still often regarded as a valid genus, Indosuchus is considered by some to be a nomen dubium. This is because in 1933 Charles Matley and Friedrich von Huene not only named Indosuchus, but also Indosaurus and Compsosuchus, also from partial remains. Many palaeontologists consider these three genera to possibly be the same … Read more
In Depth Cymatosaurus is usually seen to be a member of the Pistosauridea. This group of marine reptiles were the forerunners of the plesiosaurs which seem to have evolved from later more advanced pistosauroid forms. Other members of this group include Augustasaurus and Pistosaurus, but Cymatosaurus probably also shared the ocean with placodonts like Placodus, … Read more
In Depth After the release of its description, Kaprosuchus, or ‘Boar Croc’ as it is more often called, quickly captured the public’s imagination and entered popular culture soon after. The name comes from the three sets of teeth that look like the tusks on a wild boar. These pairs of teeth are divided two pairs … Read more