In Depth Titanosaurs like most sauropod dinosaurs are usually only known from partial remains such as one or two legs, a sequence of vertebrae or the occasional isolated skull. This is because their inherent large size makes it unlikely that the whole body will be buried and preserved before scavengers and environmental effects scatter the … Read more
In Depth Dicraeosaurid sauropods (as typified by Dicraeosaurus) are noted for having proportionately shorter necks, but even out of all these Brachytrachelopan has the shortest. This is in stark contrast to other sauropod types in other parts of the world such as Mamenchisaurus and Sauroposiedon which all show a progression towards a longer neck specialisation. … Read more
In Depth What would otherwise be an unassuming little fossil dinosaur, it is near impossible to talk about Sciurumimus without bringing up the subject of feathered dinosaurs. Exquisitely well preserved upon a slab, examination of the holotype specimen of a juvenile Sciurumimus under ultraviolet light revealed the presence of primitive protofeathers that would have covered … Read more
In Depth Barracudasauroides was named from fossils that were originally attributed to Mixosaurus as M. panxianensis. Barracudasauroides itself represents a transitional ichthyosaur similar to Mixosaurus which is seen as a link between primitive and advanced ichthyosaurs. Since its naming Barracudasauroides is sometimes confused with another ichthyosaur that is named Barracudasaurus that is also from the … Read more
In Depth Reconstructions of Lanzhousaurus are sketchy at best, but with a jaw length of one meter, it is near certain that in life Lanzhousaurus would have been a very large ornithopod dinosaur. Following this trend, the teeth that have been preserved in the lower jaw are also unusually large, and at fourteen centimetres in … Read more
In Depth Like so many other Australian dinosaurs Qantassaurus is known only from frustratingly incomplete remains. At the time of writing the only parts of this dinosaur that are known are partial jaws, but they are still distinct enough to recognise as a new type of dinosaur. Qantassaurus has been classified as a hypsilophodontid dinosaur, … Read more
In Depth When Shanag was first described the genus was described as a member of the Dromaeosauridae, but later studies have refined this further to suggest that Shanag was closer to dromaeosaurid genera such as Microraptor. So far Shanag is only known from partial jaw material, but analysis and comparisons to other related genera suggests … Read more
In Depth Brohisaurus was a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in Pakistan during the late Jurassic. Further Reading – First Jurassic dinosaur fossils found from Kirthar Range, Khuzdar District, Balochistan, Pakistan. – Geological Bulletin, University of Peshawar 36:73-83. – M. S. Malkani – 2003.
In Depth Dendrorhynchoides caused some confusion when it was first described because while the overall body morphology is that of an anurognathid, the long tail is not a recognised characteristic of the group. However the answer for this is a very simple one. The holotype was obtained from illegal fossil dealers who had added the … Read more
In Depth Mandschurosaurus is registered as a genus of hadrosaur that lived in what is now China during the late Cretaceous. Unfortunately the first individual ever found for this genus is so poorly preserved that most palaeontologists today regard the genus as a nomen dubium due to the difficulty of assigning further remains to the … Read more