In Depth Wamweracaudia is a genus of mamenchisaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived in Africa during the late Jurassic. Further Reading - Taxonomic affinities of the putative titanosaurs from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications for eusauropod dinosaur evolution. - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. - Philip D Mannion, Paul … Read more
In Depth In the simplest terms, Ianthasaurus was a smaller and earlier relative to the famous Edaphosaurus, However with this said there were many differences. First and perhaps most obviously is that generally Ianthasaurus were not as advanced in their physical developments, not surprising given that Ianthasaurus appeared in the Carboniferous whereas Edaphosaurus appears in … Read more
In Depth Vintana is a genus of gondwanatherian mamaml that lived in Madagascar during the Late Cretaceous, and was the first genus where skull fossils were discovered. Further Reading - First cranial remains of a gondwanatherian mammal reveal remarkable mosaicism. - Nature 515:512-517. - D. W. Krause, S. Hoffmann, J. R. Wible, E. C. Kirk, … Read more
In Depth Further Reading - On a titanosaurid (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) vertebral column from the Bauru Group, Late Cretaceous of Brazil - D. A. Campos, A. W. A. Kellner, R. J. Bertini, & R. M. Santucci - 2005.
In Depth Borophagus is the last of the known line of ‘bone-crunching dogs’ (also known as ‘hyena dogs’) that roamed the plains of North America. Although Borophagus was smaller than its ancestors such as Epicyon, its skull was considerably better adapted to crushing bones. This seems to be a trait of a creature that relied … Read more
In Depth As a creature that displays both dinosaurian and avian features, it is not known for certain how Rahonavis fits in with the evolution of birds from dinosaurs. This is problem shared with other discoveries such as Xiaotingia and even Archaeopteryx as the difining line of when a bird becomes a bird and not … Read more
In Depth First discovered in 2013, and named in 2015, Morelladon made headlines towards the end of 2015 as a rare example of a sailbacked dinosaur. Though dubbed a sailback, this sail was likely more like a hump as the neural spines of the vertebrae that supported it were very robust. These are way beyond … Read more
In Depth Tuojiangosaurus was the first stegosaurid to be discovered in China, and today remains the best known from Asia. Tuojiangosaurus itself is seen as a basal (primitive) form that displays a standard stegosaurid shape and posture while retaining features that would be lost in later genera. Tuojiangosaurus seems to have been limited to a … Read more
In Depth Sinerpeton is a genus of small salamander that live in China during the last stage of the Jurassic. Further Reading - Late Jurassic salamanders from northern China. - Nature 410:574-577 - K. -Q. Gao & N. H. Shubin - 2001.
In Depth Moabosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the early Cretaceous. Moabosaurus is thought to be a member Turiasauria group of sauropods. Further Reading - Moabosaurus utahensis, n. gen., n. sp., a new sauropod from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) of North America. - Contributions from the Museum of … Read more