In Depth Originally named as a species of Mesocetus, Tranatocetus is a genus of whale that lived around Denmark during the Miocene. Further Reading - Mesocetus argillarius sp.n. (Cetacea, Mysticeti) from Upper Miocene of Denmark, with Remarks on the Lower Jaw and the Echolocation System in Whale Phytogeny. - Zoologica Scripta 7 (1-4): 63–79. - … Read more
In Depth Madysaurus is a genus of cynodont that lived in Kyrgyzstan during the Triassic. Further Reading - A new cynodont (Reptilia, Theriodontia) from the Madygen Formation (Triassic) of Fergana, Kyrgyzstan. - Paleontological Journal 39:192-198. - L. P. Tatarinov - 2005.
In Depth As a ‘spiny shark’ Climatius was not a true shark but was still related to them. Climatius was probably an open water hunter of smaller fish, and two clues to indicate this are both the strongly developed caudal fin and the large pectoral fins. As the caudal fin (loosely dubbed the tail) propelled … Read more
In Depth Although the body is still unknown, Thililua is considered to be a polycotylid plesiosaur. Named after the genus Polycotylus, polycotylids had plesiosaur shaped bodies, but proportionately shorter necks and longer jaws, with probably the most famous example of this group being Dolichorhynchops. Although most polycotylid fossils are known from North America, the presence … Read more
In Depth Struthiomimus remains were actually known all the way back to 1901, but were interpreted by Lawrence Lambe to belong to Ornithomimus altus, the first ornithomimid to be named. In 1917 however, Henry Fairfield Osborn (the man who is perhaps best remembered for naming Tyrannosaurus) identified key differences in the bones, especially the hands … Read more
In Depth Ictidosuchoides is a genus of therocephalian therapsid that is known to have lived at the time of the great Permian extinction. Ictidosuchoides is known to have survived this event, however the genus seems to have disappeared not long after, suggesting that while Ictidosuchoides survived the main extinction, the event still took its toll … Read more
In Depth Sometimes dubbed the ‘Asian Iguanodon’, Probactrosaurus is no way near as well-known as its older and far more famous relative (which was actually the second dinosaur genus named, and the first one named that ate plants). At roughly five and a half meters in length Probactrosaurus was actually quite small when compared to … Read more
In Depth Chupacabrachelys is a genus of side-necked turtle known to have lived in what is now Texas during the late Cretaceous. As a side necked (pleurodiran) turtle, the head would not have retracted under the shell, but rather folded back under the side. Further to being a pleurodiran, Chupacabrachelys is also a bothremydid turtle, … Read more
In Depth Dollosaurus is a genus of mosasaur that swam and hunted in the seas of Europe during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. Dollosaurus was named after Louis Dollo, a Belgian palaeontologist who is remembered for his work studying mosasaurs. Further Reading - Dental and vertebral morphology of the enigmatic mosasaur Dollosaurus (Reptilia, … Read more
In Depth At eight meters Gigantoraptor is the largest oviraptorid dinosaur currently known, and is many times larger than other members of the group. Problems that exist at the time of writing are the remains that while incomplete show two characteristics belonging to different lifestyles. What can be ascertained is that Gigantoraptor had a long … Read more