In Depth Rhiodenticulatus is a genus of captorhinid reptile that lived in the USA during the early Permian. Further Reading - Captorhinid reptiles from the Early Permian of New Mexico, with description of a new genus and species. - Annals of Carnegie Museum 55:1-28. - D. S. Berman & R. R. Reisz - 1986.
In Depth Chriacus has a curious mix of features since it was a plantigrade quadruped that had hind legs suitable to climbing and fore legs suitable for digging. This has led to Chriacus being described as a raccoon-like animal, a generalist that could adapt its foraging behaviour to search for whatever food was available. This … Read more
In Depth Although not known from very complete fossil material, one thing that can be established about this mosasaur is that the rear limbs are not as well developed to aquatic life as they are in later forms. This reveals that Vallecillosaurus was a basal (sometimes referred to as primitive) mosasaur form, although it was … Read more
In Depth Not to be confused with the ceratopsian dinosaur Styracosaurus, Styracocephalus was a theraspid herbivore from what is now South Africa. At four and a half meters long, it was only slightly smaller than the more famous Moschops, but still appears to have had a similar lifestyle browsing upon vegetation. The most recognisable feature … Read more
In Depth Taking up half of its total body length, Tanystropheus’s neck is almost inconceivable. Indeed, when Francesco Bassani discovered Tanystropheus remains in 1886 (although he named it Tribelesodon), he conceived the extra long neck vertebrae as the wing bones of a pterosaur. It was not until later that the mistake was realised and Tribelesodon … Read more
In Depth Zygorhiza belongs to the same group of primitive prehistoric whales as Dorudon and both of these whales are more distantly related to the massive Basilosaurus which was quite possibly a predator of both of these whales. Although similar in form to Basilosaurus, Zygorhiza had a much smaller body that was actually more in … Read more
In Depth Although similar to Casea, Cotylorhynchus was considerably larger and at six meters long, represents the largest known caseid pelycosaur. This large size was its best defence against the known predators of the time which were all much smaller than Cotylorhynchus, even the largest example of the fearsome Dimetrodon was still only half its … Read more
In Depth Tawa is yet another dinosaur genus from the late Triassic of the Ghost Ranch North America, and as you might expect, one quite primitive in form. Tawa were bipedal dinosaurs of the theropod line, noted for having femurs that were proportionately quite long when compared to the lower leg bones. Tawa also had … Read more
In Depth Comahuesaurus was is genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod that lived in South America during the early Cretaceous. As a rebacchiosauird, Comahuesaurus would be related to genera such as Zapalasaurus, Rebbachisaurus and Rayososaurus. Further Reading - A new basal rebbachisaurid (Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea) from the Early Cretaceous of the Neuqu�n Basin; evolution and biogeography of the … Read more
In Depth The partially preserved skull of Cuspicephalus was first recovered in 2009 by Steve Etches, and is preserved on a slab of stone. Although incomplete the feature that stands out most at first glance is the enlarged nasoantorbital fenestra (the opening that would be in front of the eye socket) that is greater than … Read more