In Depth Although many people are familiar with the dinosaur Oviraptor, what they don’t realise is that its modern day reconstruction of this oviraptorid is often based upon the more abundant remains of Citipati. Named after two beheaded monks who appear in Tibetan buddhist folklore, Citipati is also one of the larger members of its … Read more
In Depth The holotype individual of Microvenator was first discovered by the famed American palaeontologist Barnum Brown in 1933. Brown noted that the holotype individual had what he thought was a disproportionately large head, and so came up with the name Megadontosaurus. A reference to the large head, but also the teeth found near it. … Read more
In Depth Named after Erlik, the demon king in Mongolian mythology, Erlikosaurus was a ground breaking discovery as it was the first therizinosaurid skull known to science. Despite the overall lack of other skeletal material, this skull made Erlikosaurus a model for other therizinosaurids, which at the time were only known from their post cranial … Read more
In Depth Vayuraptor is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived in Thailand during the Early Cretaceous. With the first fossils of the genus being discovered in the Sao Khua Fomation, Vayuraptor possibly shared its habitat with the dinosaurs Phuwiangvenator (which was also named in the same paper as Vayuraptor), Kinnareemimus, Siamosaurus, Siamotyrannus and … Read more
In Depth Mononykus has a close relationship with another genus of alvarezsaur named Shuvuuia in that many of the fossils once attributed to Mononykus olecranus were found to be of a distinct genus, and these were moved to their own genus named Shuvuuia. Hence many of the older reconstruction and information resources about Mononykus are … Read more
In Depth Nemegtomaia was originally named Nemegtia in 2004, but it was soon realised that this name had already been used to name another animal. So in 2005 the describers renamed it Nemegtomaia to avoid confusion. Nemegtomaia is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in what is now Mongolia during the late Cretaceous. At … Read more
In Depth Nankangia is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in China during the late Cretaceous. Although only known from partial remains, Nankangia has been speculated to have been more inclined to eating plants because the jaw symphysis is not downturned. However the exact diet for Nankangia, like with many other oviraptorid genera is … Read more
In Depth Although based upon incomplete remains, Ceratonykus is known to have been one of the alvarezsaurs. Other alvarezsaurs from the same formation include Parvicursor and possibly Mononykus. Further Reading - Ceratonykus oculatus gen. et sp. nov., a new dinosaur (? Theropoda, Alvarezsauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. - Paleontological Journal 43(1):94-106. - V. … Read more
In Depth Although only known from incomplete skull and lower jaw material, Zhuchengtyrannus was still almost certainly one of the largest of the Asian tyrannosaurines. Also, even though the teeth of the holotype are not particularly well preserved, there are more as yet unidentified teeth that are known from that location that may yet prove … Read more
In Depth Sinornithosaurus was especially well preserved, and not only were the presence of feathers clearly revealed; they showed indications of having differing colours for different body areas. The feathers, while not exactly like those of modern birds, are still more advanced than in other species, including some of the later dromaeosaurids. This is significant … Read more