In Depth With confirmed fossils of Daphoenodon stretching all the way from California and Oregon on the west coast to Florida on the east, and between Wyoming and Nebraska in the North and Texas in the South, Daphoenodon had a very broad range across most of the United States. This distribution could have also brought … Read more
In Depth Loricatosaurus was named as part of a study that concluded that the type species of Lexovisaurus was based upon un-diagnostic material, and that other remains cannot be attributed to it. Although many palaeontologists still treat Lexovisaurus as a valid genus, many of the fossils once assigned to it have now been named as … Read more
In Depth Niaftasuchus is a genus of biarmosuchian therapsid that lived in Russia during the mid/late Permian. At the time of writing Niaftasuchus is only known from a partial skull, but as a biarmosuchian, Niaftasuchus would be expected to have been a predator. Given the small size of the skull, Niaftasuchus would have probably been … Read more
In Depth Karaurus has been hailed as one of the earliest known true salamanders to appear. This is based upon the striking similarity of the Karaurus holotype to modern forms, and it is quite likely that Karaurus lived in a similar manner hunting for small invertebrates in the water. Further Reading - Urodelans from the … Read more
In Depth Borealosaurus is a genus of titanosaurid dinosaur that lived in China around the boundary of the early/late Cretaceous. Though only known from partial remains, Borealosaurus has been interpreted as being potentially related to the better known Opisthocoelicaudia. In addition to this the Japanese titanosaur Fukuititan has also been interpreted as a close relation … Read more
In Depth Many people often think that Sinraptor will be another dromaeosaurid dinosaur, when in actual fact it was a medium sized theropod of a similar build to Allosaurus. This is not the first instance that a non dromaeosaurid dinosaur has been given the inclusion of ‘raptor’ in its name with others such as Fukuiraptor … Read more
In Depth Polesinesuchus is one of a growing number of aetosaur genera that are steadily being discovered from Triassic aged rock formations in South America. Polesinesuchus is a stagonolepid aetosaur, meaning that it was more similar to genera such as Stagonolepis. Further Reading - A new aetosaur from the Upper Triassic of the Santa Maria … Read more
In Depth The almost complete specimen of Monolophosaurus was first discovered in 1984. This exciting find was initially named ‘Jiangjunmiaosaurus’ after Jiangjunmiao, an abandoned inn near where the skeleton was found, but it was never an official name hence the lack of italics and its description as a nomen nudum (a name that is not … Read more
In Depth Xibalbaonyx is a genus of ground sloth that lived in Mexico during the Pleistocene, Many fossils of this ground sloth have been recovered from underwater caves. Further Reading - Xibalbaonyx oviceps, a new megalonychid ground sloth (Folivora, Xenarthra) from the Late Pleistocene of the Yucat�n Peninsula, Mexico, and its paleobiogeographic significance. - PalZ. … Read more
In Depth Unaysaurus is the first confirmed sauropodomorph dinosaur to be named from Brazil, though there is speculation that another genus named in 1999 called Teyuwasu might also be a sauropodomorph. The closest relative to Unaysaurus is thought to be the famous Plateosaurus from Germany. Further Reading - A new early dinosaur (Sauropodomorpha) from the … Read more