In Depth Laganosuchus acquired its name from its flat ‘pancake like’ jaws. These had small but numerous teeth running across the edges. Laganosuchus is thought to have used these specialised jaws as a fish trap, laying in the water with its jaws open for extended periods until a fish swam in. Once this happened, the … Read more
In Depth Convolosaurus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in North America during the early Cretaceous. At the time of writing Convolosaurus is known mostly from subadult and juvenile individuals. Further Reading - A new basal ornithopod (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Early Cretaceous of Texas. - PLoS One 14(3):e0207935:1-44. - K. A. Andrzejewski, … Read more
In Depth The name Orkoraptor is derived from ‘Orr-Korr’ the Aoniken name for the La Leona River of Argentina.When first described, Orkoraptor was thought to be a coelurosaur thus a possible tyrannosauroid. However later studies have since caused this notion to be dismissed as Orkoraptor seems to actually be a form of late surviving allosaurid, … Read more
In Depth Remains of Ornithocheirus indicate that it was a medium sized pterosaur however Ornithocheirus has still had its total size grossly overestimated in the popular media, with the most outlandish suggesting that it had a wingspan of twelve metres. The crests of Ornithocheirus were quite different from the majority of other pterosaurs in that … Read more
In Depth When first discovered, Protoceratops was heralded as the ancestor to the massive North American ceratopsian dinosaurs such as Triceratops. However with the advent of new and continuing studies of the group, Protoceratops is now considered to be more representative of the type of dinosaur that led to the larger North American species as … Read more
In Depth Similar to the genera Lagerpeton and Dromomeron, Ixalerpeton is a genus of dinosauromorph that is noted for having rear limbs that are proportionately long to the body. Ixalerpeton would have been a small and agile dinosauromorph, possibly hunting for insects. Ixalerpeton was named alongside the dinosaur Buriolestes. Further Reading - A Unique Late … Read more
In Depth Niobrarasaurus is a genus of medium/large nodosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous. Other than this Niobrarasaurus would have been an unremarkable dinosaur genus were it not for one thing, and this is that the first (and at the time of writing only) fossils of this dinosaur are known from … Read more
In Depth Very little can be said about this titanosaur because it is only represented by a single caudal (tail) vertebrae. In addition to this the palaeontologist who named Khetranisaurus, M. Sadiq Malkani, also named three other titanosaurs Sulaimanisaurus, Pakisaurus and Balochisaurus, Marisaurus in that same year, all from only caudal vertebrae. The first two … Read more
In Depth Herrerasaurus was first described in 1963 yet many sources still cite the year 1988 as the year the genus was discovered. In actually however this was the year that the first complete skull of Herrerasaurus was found, and because this is the discovery that really made headlines in the scientific press, this is … Read more
In Depth Jaklapallisaurus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in what is now India during the latest Triassic. Further Reading - New dinosaur species from the Upper Triassic Upper Maleri and Lower Dharmaram formations of Central India. - Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 101:333-349. - F. E. … Read more