In Depth At the time of writing Tratayenia is only known from a partial post cranial remains, mostly associated with the spine and hips, but the discovery of even these scant remains has significantly improved our understanding of the South American dinosaurs in the Cretaceous. It was long thought that carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaurs (e.g. Mapusaurus) … Read more
In Depth Unquillosaurus is a genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous. At the time of the genus description (and writing here), Unquillosaurus is only known from a single pubis bone (part of the pelvis), and so it is very difficult to infer much detail about this dinosaur. Further … Read more
In Depth Rinconsaurus was a relatively small titanosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous period. Not too much is known about Rinconsaurus other than it appears to have had a more gracile (lightweight) build than some titanosaurs. Teeth associated with the type specimen are also termed chisel-like which means that Rinconsaurus probably … Read more
In Depth A possible close relative of Saltasaurus, Yamanasaurus is a genus of titanosaurid dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. Yamanasaurus is also the very first dinosaur to be named from fossils discovered in Ecuador. Further Reading - The first dinosaur remains from the Cretaceous of Ecuador. Cretaceous Research. - S. … Read more
In Depth The remains of Beishanlong are quite incomplete, but they do tell us that this was an ornithomimosaur and a particularly large one at that. The team of palaeontologists that described the first specimens came up with an estimated length of up to eight meters long, but further study yielded the discovery that the … Read more
In Depth Tonganosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in China during the early Jurassic. Tonganosaurus is seen as being similar to Omeisaurus, and both are classified as mamenchisaurid sauropod dinosaurs (similar to Mamenchisaurus). Further Reading – [A new sauropod from the Lower Jurassic of Huili, Sichuan, China]. -Vertebrata PalAsiatica 48(3):185-202 - K. … Read more
In Depth Amanzia is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in Europe during the late Jurassic. Amanzia is the first sauropod dinosaur known from Switzerland. Further Reading - Re-description of the sauropod dinosaur Amanzia (“Ornithopsis/Cetiosauriscus”) greppini n. gen. and other vertebrate remains from the Kimmeridgian (Late Jurassic) Reuchenette Formation of Moutier, Switzerland. - Swiss … Read more
In Depth Pantydraco was formerly known as Thecodontosaurus caducus, however re-examination of the many Thecodontosaurus species has resulted in many being regarded as synonyms or actually recognised as new animals, as is the case for Pantydraco. Named after the Pantyffynnon quarry where it was discovered, Pantydraco is thought to represent a basal sauropodomorph. For this … Read more
In Depth Tototlmimus is a genus of ornithomimosaur that lived in Mexico during the late Cretaceous. So far Tototlmimus is only known from fossils of some foot bones and fingers, and so it is hard to infer much about this dinosaur other than that it has been estimated to have been a medium sized ornithomimid. … Read more
In Depth Although only known from the incomplete remains of a juvenile, the dinosaur Siats seems to have been one of the larger theropod dinosaurs from North America. The partial remains of the holotype individual which mostly include elements of the hind quarters are estimated to have come from an individual dinosaur that was … Read more