In Depth Aerosteon was a member of Megaraptora, a group of lightly built theropod dinosaurs that are notable for having enlarged claws upon their hands. The name of this group is derived from the misidentification of first member of the group, Megaraptor being misdentified as a dromaeosaurid ‘raptor’ based upon the presence of a single … Read more
In Depth Kurupi is a genus of abelisaurid dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. As an abelisaurid dinosaur we can infer what the missing parts of this dinosaur may have looked at by comparing it to better preserved genera. As such, Kurupi would have had fairly standard large theropod body proportions, … Read more
In Depth Much of Australovenator is missing but the parts which are known show a lightweight and fast carnivore that could run down its prey. Study of the fossils have also brought similarities and comparisons between Fukuiraptor from Japan, and Megaraptor from South America, and for this reasons Australovenator is usually termed as a megaraptoran … Read more
In Depth Nedoceratops is a genus of ceratopsian dinosaur that lived in North America in the late Cretaceous. So far only a single skull has been attributed to the genus, but originally this skull was called Diceratops. When this name was found to already be in use however, the name Nedoceratops was given to the … Read more
In Depth More popularly known as an ‘elephant bird’, Aepyornis is one of the largest birds ever discovered. This size and associated weight meant that Aepyornis was completely flightless, even lacking the deep keeled breast bone for strong chest muscle attachment. Modern analysis shows that Aepyornis and other elephant birds of the Aepyornithidae appear to … Read more
In Depth With an average size of up to four meters long Clidastes was tiny when compared to the larger mosasaurs such as Mosasaurus and Tylosaurus (the latter of which is actually considered to have been a potential predator of Clidastes). The small size of Clidastes suggests that it specialised in hunting smaller and swifter … Read more
In Depth Eodromaeus is a very exciting find as it may well represent one of the earliest theropods. First thought to have been more fossils of Eoraptor, study by Paul Sereno revealed features not present in Eoraptor. With the fossils realised as a new dinosaur, the fossil description was published with the name Eodromaeus, a … Read more
In Depth When Mauicetus was first named it was originally as Lophocephalus. However this name had already been used to name a genus of beetle. Under international rules governing the naming of animals, the first use has priority, so the fossils of this whale were renamed Mauicetus. Mauicetus lived in the waters around the Pacific … Read more
In Depth A small alvarezsaur, one of the notable things about Albinykus is that even though it is only known by its hind quarters, these were found in a crouching position. Oviraptosaurs and troodonts are also known to have crouched, so the discovery that alvarezsaurs like Albinykus could also enter this position indicates that crouching … Read more
In Depth Liodon was amongst the earliest named genera of mosasaur, with a taxonomic history going all the way back to 1841 when the naturalist Richard Owen first named the genus. However, back then Richard Owen spelt the name as Leiodon, but a few years later it was realised that the name Leiodon had already … Read more