In Depth Arganarhinus is a phytosaur that lived in what is now Morocco during the late Triassic. Arganarhinus was originally named as a species of Paleorhinus before being made a distinct species in 1995. Further Reading - Late Triassic (Carnian and Norian) tetrapods from the southwestern United States. - New Mexico Museum of Natural History … Read more
In Depth Auroraceratops is a genus of neoceratopsian dinosaur, the kind of horned dinosaurs that were becoming more and more common during the early Cretaceous, the descendants of which would grow into the horned giants like Triceratops at of the late Cretaceous. One of the notable features about Auroraceratops is the rough rugose appearance of … Read more
In Depth Although certainly not the only dinosaur to be discovered in Brazil, Amazonsaurus was still the first discovered within the Amazon Basin. Amazonsaurus is confirmed as a diplodocoid sauropod, but the lack of fossil remains makes it difficult to tell what kind. One possibility is that Amazonsaurus might be a rebbachisaurid, a sub group … Read more
In Depth Sphenonectris is a genus of thelodontid fish that lived in waters associated with what is now Canada during the early Devonian. Further Reading - The Furcacaudiformes: a new order of jawless vertebrates with thelodont scales, based on articulated Silurian and Devonian fossils from northern Canada. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Volume 18, no. … Read more
In Depth Cerrejonisuchus is a genus of drysosaurid crocodile that is only represented by partial remains. These remains reveal however that Cerrejonisuchus had one of the shortest snouts of all of the known dryosaurids as well as the shortest body. Hailing from the Cerrej�n Formation, Cerrejonisuchus was probably a predator of fish and possible small … Read more
In Depth Leptosuchus is a genus of phytosaur that is currently known from a few species. Phytosaurs like Leptosuchus were very much like crocodiles, though they were not actually directly related to them. An exceptionally large skull once assigned as Leptosuchus gregorii, has since been moved to the genus Smilosuchus, though since this time there … Read more
In Depth The first specimen of Acamptonectes was discovered in 1958 from the Speeton Clay Formation, but was never officially described. A second specimen from this formation was recovered in 1985. Early interpretations of Acamptonectes led to the conclusion that it was similar to Platypterygius, but a new discovery from Germany in 2003 was found … Read more
In Depth Zupaysaurus is often reconstructed with a pair of crests rising from the top of its skull like the more famous Dilophosaurus. Indeed, Zupaysaurus also has a similar upper jaw arrangement to Dilophosaurus with a notable gap between the teeth of the maxilla and premaxilla forming a small notch. However if a 2005 presentation … Read more
In Depth Aigialosaurus was a semi aquatic lizard that was developed to enter the water yet still return to land. This is similar to many other lizards at this stage of the Cretaceous that would eventually evolve into the mosauridae, the last major group of marine reptiles that would adapt to ocean life during the … Read more
In Depth Though only a small animal, as of 2015 Erpetonyx is the earliest known appearance of a parareptile. This is an important discovery as it helps to fill a gap in our understanding of the evolution of reptiles. The original describers have also speculated that Erpetonyx is a possible bolosaurid. Further Reading - The … Read more