In Depth Eoalulavis was the first Mesozoic bird known to have had an alula, more commonly known as a bastard wing. The alula is a small extension to the anterior (front) edge of the wing that serves as an attachment point for a few additional small flight feathers. When extended, the alula both increased low … Read more
In Depth A kind of mosasaur known from North Africa, the species name of E. heterodontus means different-toothed and is in reference to the different kinds of teeth that are present in the jaws of known Eremiasaurus specimens. This is taken to indicate that Eremiasaurus may have been a generalist carnivore that was not especially … Read more
In Depth Lekaneleo is a genus of thylacoleonid marsupial that lived in Australia during the Miocene period. Lekaneleo is a relative of the better known Thylacoleo, and like Thylacoleo, Lekaneleo would have been a powerful predator. Further Reading - Priscileo roskellyae sp. nov. (Thylacoleonidae, Marsupialia) from the Oligocene-Miocene of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland. - Memoirs of … Read more
In Depth Saltoposuchus was not like todays crocodiles, in fact it was more like a small theropod dinosaur. The hind legs were long which meant that fast running speeds were theoretically possible, though the fore limbs may have still served a weight bearing function, perhaps when at rest. The teeth in the mouth were small … Read more
In Depth Tropidostoma is a genus of dicynodont therapsid that lived in South Africa during the Permian. Further Reading - Researches on the Structure, Organisation, and Classification of the Fossil Reptilia. - VI. On the Anomodont Reptilia and Their Allies. - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 180:215-296. - Harry Govier … Read more
In Depth Lophostropheus was initially assigned as a specimen of Halticosaurus until 1993 it was re-classified as a second species of Liliensternus, a genus that was also previously established as a species of Halticosaurus. A new study in 2007 however concluded that while the fossils were similar, they were different enough to be established as … Read more
In Depth Helicoprion is one of the stranger ‘sharks‘ in the fossil record, although at the time that Helicoprion swam the oceans there were actually many sharks that did not conform to the ‘standard’ form that we know today. The majority of the remains of this shark are the teeth which are fossilised in a … Read more
In Depth Romeria is a genus of captorhinid reptile that lived in what is now Texas during the early Permian. Further Reading - Two new cotylosaurs from the Permian of Texas. - Proceedings of the New England Zo�logical Club 11: 97–102. - Llewellyn Ivor Price - 1937. - Romeriid Reptiles from the Lower Permian. - … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – Cave occupation during Palaeolithic times: Man and/or Hyena?” in The Role of Early Humans in the accumulation if European Lower and Middle Palaeolithic bone assemblages. – Ergebnisse eines Kolloquiums, vol. 42, Monographien. Edited by S. Gaudzinski and E. Turner, pp. 73-88. Bonn: Verlag des R�misch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums. – P. Fosse – … Read more
In Depth Elliotsmithia is a little known genus of pelycosaur that was initially described from the study of a partial skull. Further Reading - A further contribution to our knowledge of the fossil reptiles of the Karroo. - Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 107(3):299-318. - Robert Broom - 1937. - Anatomy and relationships … Read more