In Depth Bonitasaura is a genus of what seems to have been fairly small titanosaurs that lived in Argentina during the Late Cretaceous. The holotype individual seems to have been a subadult, which means that while it was sexually mature, it still would not have been fully grown. During this phase of its life though, … Read more
In Depth Panguraptor is the first genus of coelophysid dinosaur discovered on the Asian continent. Panguraptor was a small predator that would have hunted small animals. Panguraptor was also the second definitive dinosaur genus named from the Lufeng Formation, the first being Sinosaurus. Further Reading - The first well-preserved coelophysoid theropod dinosaur from Asia. - … Read more
In Depth One of the troodonts, Byronosaurus aquired its name after being named after Byron Jaffe, a supporter of the American Museum of Natural History Paleontological Expeditions. One of the unearthed skulls of B. jaffei is the best persevered skull specimen of any troodont, and shows two adaptions that are unique among the currently known … Read more
In Depth Although as the name suggests this was the first dromaeosaurid to be discovered, it was not well understood until some of the other dromaeosaurids were discovered and studied. This has allowed for the gaps to be filled in, giving a much more accurate representation of what Dromaeosaurus was like. While Dromaeosaurus still had … Read more
In Depth Cristatusaurus is recorded as a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in Africa during the Cretaceous. Africa has been an important source of spinosauird fossil material, however usually only snouts and teeth, and a few isolated bone fragments are found. Unfortunately, Cristatusaurus is no exception, and at the time of writing only some … Read more
In Depth Ligabuesaurus is a genus of titanosaurid dinosaur that lived in Argentina towards the end of the early Cretaceous. Ligabuesaurus was named in honour of Dr Giancarlo Ligabue, while the type species L. leanzai was named in honour of Dr. Hector Leanza, the geologist who discovered the holotype specimen. Further Reading - Ligabuesaurus leanzai … Read more
In Depth In a nutshell Kotasaurus is one of the most primitive sauropod dinosaurs discovered. So primitive is Kotasaurus that the genus still possesses features that are known in sauropodomorph dinosaurs. This led to a lot of initial confusion over whether Kotasaurus was an advanced sauropodomorph, or a primitive sauropod, though today the interpretation of … Read more
In Depth When first described in 1979, Mussaurus was only known from juvenile individuals, and until 2013 this was supposedly the case. However in 1980 the adult were actually described, they had just been classed under the genus Plateosaurus. With a re-evaluation of these in 2013, Mussaurus is also known from adult remains, and the … Read more
In Depth Although only fragmentary remains are known Ilokelesia has been identified as a basal abelisaurid. Like many South American dinosaurs, Ilokelesia had been named using the Mapuche language from a combination of the works ‘ilo’ (flesh) and ‘kelesio’ (lizard). Further Reading – A basal Abelisauria Novas, 1992 (Theropoda–Ceratosauria) from the Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. … Read more
In Depth Named after a demon that appears in Mapuche mythology, Gualicho is a medium sized genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the early stages of the late Cretaceous. Gualicho would have been a predator of other smaller and similarly sized dinosaurs. Gualicho was named as a genus in 2016, and … Read more