In Depth Saniwa is one of the better known genera of prehistoric monitor lizard, and although initially only known from North America, specimens are now known from Europe as well as northern Asia. Like monitor lizards living today, Saniwa was a predator. Juvenile monitor lizards tend to focus upon hunting invertebrates like insects, but as … Read more
In Depth Pyroraptor acquired its name from the circumstances of its discovery. In 1992 the partially preserved remains of this dinosaur where discovered after a forest fire had swept through the area. Despite the very incomplete remains it has been possible to identify Pyroraptor as a distinct genus from the unique form of the sickle-shaped … Read more
In Depth The holotype fossils of Duriatitan have were previously considered to be species of the genera Ornithopsis and Pelorosaurus, finally settling in Cetiosaurus, by John Hulke all the way back in 1874, before finally being named as a distinct genus in a 2010 re-description. Duriatitan however still suffers from a distinct lack of fossils, … Read more
In Depth Xuwulong is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading – A New Hadrosauriform Dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Gansu Province, China. – Acta Geologica Sinica. 85 (1): 51–57. – You Hailu, Li Daqing & Liu Weichang – 2011.
In Depth Scalenodon is a genus of cynodont that lived during the mid Triassic. Further Reading - On some Triassic cynodonts from Tanganyika. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 125:617-669. - A. W. Crompton - 1955. - Cynodonts of Gondwanan habit in the Middle Triassic of the USSR. - Paleontological Journal. 2: 200–205. - … Read more
In Depth Way back during the 1890s, a fossil collector named Phillip James Rufford discovered a partial dorsal vertebrae near Hastings in East Sussex, England. Eventually catalogued as BMNH R2095, the vertebrae was first thought to belong the genus Cetiosaurus by Richard Lydekker, before eventually becoming Pelorosaurus conybeari. That was about it for well over … Read more
In Depth Proplanicoxa is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now England during the early Cretaceous. So far this dinosaur is only known from partial skeletal remains, and there is even speculation that Proplanicoxa may actually be synonymous with Mantellisaurus. Proplanicoxa was named for its similarity to the genus Planicoxa while … Read more
In Depth When fossils of Horshamosaurus were first discovered they were originally interpreted as coming from Iguanodon, but in 1996 they were re-described as a species of Polacanthus by William Blows. However in 2015 Blows re-described this species as a whole new genus named Horshamosaurus, citing clear differences in the vertebrae and armour. At the … Read more
In Depth It took a long time for the fossils of Neovenator to be studied and named, although such an occurrence is not unknown in the fields of Palaeontology. First discovered in 1978 from the chalk cliffs of the south-western Isle of Wight, a subsequent later visit led to the other remains of Neovenator being … Read more
In Depth In 2004 the discovery of three fossils would help bridge one of the most important evolutionary gaps in the fossil record. These fossils were the first known representations of Tiktaalik, a creature that was not only a fish but also possessed the rudimentary features of the later tetrapods. Unlike other creatures which are … Read more