In Depth Triodus was similar to other sharks such as Xenacanthus and Orthacanthus, and it too also seems to have lived in the freshwater swamps and waterways that covered much of ancient Europe and North America. Fossil evidence of Triodus shows that it actively pursued prey like juvenile amphibians (still in their larval stages, they … Read more
In Depth Originally described as a species of Lagosuchus (L. lilloensis), when clear differences were noted in the limb proportions were noted the genus Marasuchus was created. Marasuchus was a dinosauriform, a kind of reptile that was on the evolutionary route to dinosaurs, but not a dinosaur yet. Further Reading - Dinosaurian precursors from the … Read more
In Depth The name Prosaurolophus was decided for this genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur on the basis that it was believed to have been similar to but lived before another genus called Saurolophus. However, this interpretation is now somewhat more controversial with different palaeontologists citing Prosaurolophus as being more closely related to other varying genera other … Read more
In Depth Archaerhineura is a genus of worm lizard that lived in North America during the Paleocene. Further Reading - Biogeography of worm lizards (Amphisbaenia) driven by end-Cretaceous mass extinction. - Proceedings of the Royal Society, B 282:20143034. - N. R. Longrich, J. Vinther, R. A. Pyron, D. Pisani & J. A. Gauthier - 2015.
In Depth A possible close relative of Saltasaurus, Yamanasaurus is a genus of titanosaurid dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. Yamanasaurus is also the very first dinosaur to be named from fossils discovered in Ecuador. Further Reading - The first dinosaur remains from the Cretaceous of Ecuador. Cretaceous Research. - S. … Read more
In Depth With its oversized front teeth Thylacosmilus appears to be very similar to sabre toothed cats like Smilodon. The key difference between these two types of animal is that the sabre toothed cats were placental mammals, which means that young developed while connected to a placenta via an umbilical cord while remaining inside the … Read more
In Depth Agilodocodon is a genus of small mammaliforme that lived in what is now China during the Mid Jurassic. Agilodocodon is thought to have been an arboreal animal, and as such spent most of its life living in the tree canopy. Here Agilodocodon is thought to have fed mostly upon tree sap, safe and … Read more
In Depth Beiyanerpeton was a small salamander-like amphibian that lived in China during the Jurassic. As such it is expected to have been like a modern day salamander in terms of ecological niche, though of course with the addition of possibly being occasional prey to small carnivorous dinosaurs. Further Reading - Late Jurassic salamandroid from … Read more
In Depth Further Reading - Galveosaurus herreroi, a new sauropod dinosaur from Villar del Arzobispo Formation (Tithonian-Berriasian) of Spain. - Zootaxa 1034: 1–20. - B�rbara S�nchez-Hern�ndez - 2005. - Un nuevo dinosaurio saur�podo, Galvesaurus herreroi gen. nov., sp. nov., del tr�nsito Jur�sico-Cret�cico en Galve (Teruel, NE de Espa�a). - Naturaleza Aragonesa 15: 4-17. - J. … Read more
In Depth The remains of Beishanlong are quite incomplete, but they do tell us that this was an ornithomimosaur and a particularly large one at that. The team of palaeontologists that described the first specimens came up with an estimated length of up to eight meters long, but further study yielded the discovery that the … Read more