In Depth Clovesuurdameredeor is a genus of thalattosuchian (sea crocodile) that lived in European seas during the mid Jurassic. Clovesuurdameredeor is also another genus established after a major revision of the Steneosaurus genus that took place in 2020. Further reading - Gharial skull from the Cornbrash of Closworth. - Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History … Read more
In Depth The title of biggest known rodent often gets assigned to the related Phoberomys; however the discovery of a new skull of Josephoartigasia revealed that it was quite a bit larger. These estimates however have to be based upon comparing the size of the skull of Josephoartigasia to those of other known rodents with … Read more
In Depth At five to six meters long, Wonambi would have been able to tackle any small to medium sized animal it chose. The Aboriginal people living in Australia at the same time as Wonambi were certainly aware of the presence of large snakes and indeed warned their children about going to watering holes alone. … Read more
In Depth A close relative of sauropod dinosaur genera such as Mendozasaurus and Futalognkosaurus, Quetecsaurus is at the time of its description one of the better known dinosaurs of its kind from the Cerro Lisandro Formation. Further Reading – A New Titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous (Cerro Lisandro Formation) of Mendoza Province, Argentina … Read more
In Depth Fossils of Abditosaurus were originally discovered in 1954 and then described in 1956 as belonging to Hypselosaurus. Further study later in the twentieth century however began to see the Hypselosaurus genus as a dubious one, and many fossils that were assigned to new genera. A fresh expedition to the 1954 discovery site between … Read more
The Discovery and Naming of Tylosaurus The discovery of Tylosaurus harks back to the ‘bone wars’, a fierce rivalry between the palaeontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh that took place towards the end of the nineteenth century. As such the naming history of Tylosaurus is muddled and can cause confusion to those who … Read more
In Depth Although Acherontisuchus was named upon the basis of four specimens, there is the possibility that these remains may be all from the same individual. Acherontisuchus were dyrosaurid crocodiles that inhabited the rivers and water systems of Colombia. Acherontisuchus grew quite a bit bigger than other dyrosaurid crocodiles, and although long-snouted, also differed by … Read more
In Depth There are a great number of known thalattosuchian (a.k.a. sea crocodiles) genera known to us, and amongst these it is the species of the Machimosaurus genus that are amongst the largest known to us. The largest skulls of Machimosaurus have been confirmed to be over one and a half meters in length, … Read more
In Depth Further Reading Further reading- Ancient DNA evidence for the loss of a highly divergent brown bear clade during historical times. – Molecular Ecology 17 (8): 1962–1970. S. Calvignac, S. Hughes, C. Tougard, J. Michaux, M. Thevenot, M. Philippe, W. Hamdine & C. Hanni – 2008.
In Depth Jianianhualong is a genus of troodontind dinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. The holotype individual has an almost perfect state of preservation in the skeleton, and while some bones are not too clearly distinguished, the only significant thing missing from it is the tip of the tail. The whole animal … Read more