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
In Depth Bienosaurus is a genus of armoured dinosaur that lived in China during the early Jurassic. Although only known from fragmentary skull and jaw fossils, Bienosaurus is thought to have been similar to Scelidosaurus. Further Reading - Primitive armored dinosaur from the Lufeng Basin, China, by Z. Dong. In Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, D. H. … Read more
In Depth Vespersaurus is a genus of noasaurine theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous. At the time of its description Vespersaurus is notable for two reasons. First is that the Vespersaurus holotype fossils were discovered in an area that back in the early Cretaceous was part of a huge desert, … Read more
In Depth Scutellosaurus was a relatively small ornithischian dinosaur that may have been primarily bipedal, though still having fore limbs developed enough for providing quadrupedal support for activities such as feeding. Scutellosaurus also had a covering of armoured scutes along its back that provided flexible yet tough armour to give some defence against the teeth … Read more
In Depth Reiszorhinus is a species of captorhinid reptile that lived in what is now Texas during the Permian. Further Reading - Reiszorhinus olsoni, a New Single-Tooth-Rowed Captorhinid Reptile from the Lower Permian of Texas. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(3):704-714. - S. S. Sumida, J. Dodick, A. Metcalf & G. Albright - 2010.
In Depth Proterochersis was an early terrestrial turtle that live in Europe during the late Triassic, as one well as one of the earliest appearances of a pleurodiran (side-necked) turtle. Further Reading – Proterochersis, eine pleurodire Schildkr�te aus dem Keuper. – Jahreshefte des Vereins f�r vaterl�ndische Naturkunde in W�rttemberg 80:13-30. – E. Fraas – 1913. … Read more