In Depth Although only described from a partial maxilla, Geminiraptor has still been a significant discovery since it was the first troodont dinosaur known to have lived in early Cretaceous North America. The name Geminiraptor was established to honour Celina and Marina Suarez, twin sisters and the geologists who discovered the Geminiraptor holotype specimen. Further … Read more
In Depth Serikornis is a genus of small anchiornithid dinosaur that lived in China during the late Jurassic. The holotype individual of Serikornis clearly shows the extent of feathers covering the body of this small dinosaur. What is surprising though is how much these feathers varied in relation to different parts of the body. A … Read more
In Depth Though the name means ‘Lewis’s crocodile’, Lewisuchus is actually a genus of silesaurid dinosauriforme. In simpler terms, Lewisuchus was closely related to the ancestors of the dinosaurs, though probably not an ancestor itself. Lewisuchus was a fairly small and lightly built predator that probably hunted for small animals such as lizards and primitive … Read more
In Depth Tsoabichi is a genus of caiman crocodile that lived in North America during the early Eocene. At the time of its description, Tsoabichi is the only caiman crocodile known to have lived north of Mexico. Further Reading - A new alligatorid from the lower Eocene Green River Formation of Wyoming and the origin … Read more
In Depth Named after the title character in the 1942 film Bambi, Bambiraptor was a small dromaeosaurid dinosaur that has caused a lot of excitement in the science of palaeontology. Discovered by a fourteen year-old Wes Linster in 1993, the Bambiraptor holotype is of an exceptionally well preserved individual that is estimated to be around … Read more
In Depth Sahonachelys is a genus of side-necked turtle that lived in Madagascar during the late Cretaceous. The name Sahonachelys means ‘frog turtle’, a reference to the frog-like appearance of the face. Sahonachelys is thought to have been a specialised suction feeder. This is evidenced by upper and lower jaw surfaces that face each other, … Read more
In Depth A little known theropod from the mid Jurassic of China, Shidaisaurus was so far only been described from partial remains. However, the Shidaisaurus remains were discovered along with the remains of several other individual dinosaurs, and the partial remains of an unknown theropod skull found nearby with the skeletal remains of a sauropod … Read more
In Depth Thoracosaurus is a medium-large gharial-like crocodile that lived during the late Cretaceous through to the Paleocene. Fossils of Thoracosaurus are usually associated with North American and European fossil deposits, but remains from other places such as India have also been reported. The sheer number of Thoracosaurus fossils seems to indicate that the genus … Read more
In Depth Tianchisaurus was originally dubbed (but never officially named) Jurassosaurus because in the same year that it was named, the very first Jurassic park film was released. Incidentally, the name Jurassosaurus was suggested by Steven Spielberg who produced and directed the film. Dong rejected the name Jurassosaurus in favour of Tianchisaurus, but kept the … Read more
In Depth First named in 2006, Razanandrongobe has largely been a mystery for researchers as the genus was only known from partial upper jaw bones. This made details about what kind of animal Razanandrongobe was very difficult to establish other than it was from some large kind of archosaur. However, new remains discovered and described … Read more