In Depth Bathygnathus is a little known genus of pelycosaur that lived in Canada during the Early Permian. Though only known from partial remains, studies of these fossils have led to the suggestion that Bathygnathus would have been similar to pelycosaurs like Dimetrodon. Further Reading - [Fragment of a jaw of an extinct saurian animal]. … Read more
In Depth In life Procaimanoidea would have lived like a small alligator feeding upon a variety of animals from fish such as Diplomystus, to invertebrates like freshwater shrimp. The main evidence for this comes from the two different kinds of teeth in the jaws, sharper conical teeth in the front, and more rounded teeth in … Read more
In Depth Jeholornis was a primitive bird that is known from both the Hebei and Liaoning provinces of China where individuals of the genus lived during the early cretaceous. At eighty centimetres long from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail, Jeholornis was quite a large bird for the time. An … Read more
In Depth Thliptosaurus is a genus of dicynodont that lived in Africa during the late Permian. The skull of Thliptosaurus lacked teeth and also seems to have lacked the large tusks that are typical in many other dicynodont genera. Further Reading - A new dicynodont (Anomodontia: Emydopoidea) from the terminal Permian of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. … Read more
In Depth The skull of Bistahieversor has many features that are considered primitive for the tyrannosaurid group, but most importantly, a noticeable depth that is lacking in other, and later, tyrannosaurid species. This is significant because it was once thought that only the later and more advanced tyrannosaurids, like Tyrannosaurus itself, had deeper snouts. The … Read more
In Depth Like many early discovered pterosaurs the taxonomic history of Cycnorhamphus is quite muddled. Initially assigned to Pterodactylus, the first pterosaur discovered that ended up being treated like a wastebasket for almost any discovered pterosaur remains, Harry Seeley redesignated the specimen Cycnorhamphus. However another palaeontologist, Felix Plieninger, cited mistakes in the description and in … Read more
In Depth Tropeognathus was first named in 1987 after the description of a pterosaur skull that had been purchased from a fossil dealer. In 2002 a set of lower jaws was further attributed to the genus, and most recently at the time of writing a third specimen was added in 2013, and this was the … Read more
In Depth The skull that is the holotype of Calsoyasuchus is incomplete with quite a few pieces missing. However CT scanning of the skull has revealed the presence of an intricate network of air passages and a double walled secondary palate; a feature of modern crocodiles. How Calsoyasuchus fits into the development of modern crocodiles … Read more
In Depth Sail-backed rauisuchian archosaurs are not especially well known, but they do seem to have existed in reasonably high numbers, although it is also important not to confuse them with the earlier sail-backed pelycosaurs of the Permian such as Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus. Upon is initial discovery and description, Lotosaurus was thought to have been … Read more
In Depth Holotype fossils of Vivaron were first discovered in 2009, however they were at first thought to represent further remains of the famous Postosuchus. The addition of two prong-like projections to the rear of the maxilla which connect to the jugal have actually revealed that these fossils do not belong to Postosuchus, but a … Read more