In Depth Powellvenator is a genus of coelophysoid dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Triassic. Further Reading - A New Early Coelophysoid Neotheropod from the Late Triassic of Northwestern Argentina. - Gondwanan Perspectives 54(5):506-538. - M. D. Ezcurra - 2017.
In Depth It is becoming increasingly clear that the dinosaurs were not the only large reptiles that were around in the Mesozoic, and the discovery of the partial skull of Aegisuchus is a further example of this. Although incomplete, the partial remains are from a huge skull, but at the time of writing it is … Read more
In Depth In popular culture Amphicyon is possibly the best known genera of the group known as ‘bear dogs’. This group was so named because of the immensely robust build of the body that gave them the appearance of bears even though the heads were more dog-like. Despite this more general name, Amphicyon was not … Read more
In Depth The Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah is well known for the large number of armoured dinosaur genera known to have lived in what would become Utah back in the early Cretaceous. Peloroplites however stands out from other genera however because the ulna (one of lower fore leg bones) was quite long and straight … Read more
In Depth Although currently known from only a lower jaw Aetodactylus is believed to represent an ornithocheirid pterosaur, and as such it is only the second of its type to have been discovered in North America. The pointed teeth of Aetodactylus are pointed and evenly arranged into pairs, the first of which project forwards. This … Read more
In Depth Mahuidacursor is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new ornithopod dinosaur from the Santonian of Northern Patagonia (Rinc�n de los Sauces, Argentina). - Cretaceous Research. - P. Cruzado Caballero, J. M. Gasca, L. S. Filippi, I. Cerda & A. C. Garrido … Read more
In Depth Gladioserratus is an extinct genus of cow shark that is known to have first appeared near the middle of the Early Cretaceous. Further fossil discoveries have led to the realisation that species of Gladioserratus lived all the way to the end of the Cretaceous and into the Paleocene. There has also been speculation … Read more
In Depth Originally named as Sauropleura longipes by Edward Drinker Cope in 1875, S. longipes became a new genus in 1972. Anthracodromeus means ‘coal runner’, a reference to the fact that it was discovered in a coal mine, while the species name means ‘long foot’. Anthracodromeus was probably a small predator of invertebrates. Further Reading … Read more
In Depth Iberodactylus is a genus of pterosaur that lived in Europe during the early Cretaceous. Iberodactylus is thought to be related to the genus Hamipterus. For this reason the describers used more complete remains of Hamipterus to gauge the size of Iberodactylus, the result of which was a wingspan estimate of up to about … Read more
In Depth The holotype fossils of Rhachiocephalus were originally described as a species of Oudenodon, O. magnus, in 1876 by Richard Owen. It was later in 1898 that these fossils were re-described by Harry Govier Seeley as a new genus, Rhachiocephalus. Fossils of Rhachiocephalus are currently known from both South Africa and Tanzania. One Tanzanian … Read more