In Depth Jucha is a genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur that lived in Russian waters during the early Cretaceous. Jucha is noted for being very primitive in form for an elasmosaurid plesiosaur, though it is uncertain if Jucha was an early development, or perhaps a later surviving example of aprimitive elasmosaurid plesisoaur. Further reading - A … Read more
In Depth Much of Segnosaurus is still unknown and as such reconstructions of Segnosaurus are usually based with the addition of Erlikosaurus material to fill in the missing parts. Although very similar to one another, Segnosaurus has a key difference in the mouth in that the outer surface of the lower jaw begins at the … Read more
In Depth Purbeckodon is a genus of mammaliaform that lived in the early Cretaceous. Mammaliformes like Purbeckodon were mammal-like but were not quite true mammals. Regardless, Purbeckodon would have still resembled a small rodent in terms of physical appearance. Further Reading - Possible persistence of the morganucodontans in the Lower Cretaceous Purbeck Limestone Group (Dorset, … Read more
In Depth Araeoscelis is another representative of the early diapsids. The teeth of Araeoscelis were quite large and blunter than its contemporary Petrolacosaurus, suggesting that it specialised in insects with tougher bodies. Although officially considered a diapsid with two fenestrae behind the eye socket, the lower fensetra was closed with bone, meaning that Araeoscelis could … Read more
In Depth So far Archaeosyodon is only known by an incomplete skull, but it is still enough to clearly identify this as a dinocephalian therapsid. As such, Archaeosyodon would have been a predator of other therapsids and possibly other kinds of vertebrates during the Permian. Further Reading - Upper Permian therapsids of the Ezhovo locality, … Read more
In Depth Although only currently known from partial snout remains, it is still enough material to declare Oxalaia a spinosaurid due to the unique nature of the snout. Spinosaurid teeth were also known from the fossil site before the current material was discovered, and may have belonged to Oxalaia in life. With its total length … Read more
In Depth Adapis is considered to be one of the first primates and is the type genus of the Adapidae. These primates have grasping hands that have nails rather than claws and the post cranial skeletons of them are similar to those of lemurs. Adapis did not have a nose like some primates (including humans) … Read more
In Depth Analysis of Elginerpeton allowed for identification of Obruchevichthys, and together they represent an earlier group of tetrapods that pre-dated later species by several million years. Further Reading – Elginerpeton pancheni and the earliest tetrapod clade. – Nature 373 (6513): 420–425. – Per E. Ahlberg – 1995.
In Depth Anconastes was a realtively small temnospondyl amphibian, and although the name means ‘mountain dweller’, Anconastes probably didn’t stray too far from the swamps and water systems of Carboniferous North America. Further Reading - A new genus and species of trematopid amphibian from the Late Pennsylvanian of north-central New Mexico, David S Berman, Robert … Read more
In Depth Although named from only partial remains, Karongasaurus is truly a dinosaur genus of the information age since its description was the first to be published solely online. The genus name Karongasaurus is in reference to the Karonga district of Malawi combined with the Ancient Greek for ‘lizard’. The species name is in honour … Read more