In Depth Dzharaonyx is a genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - New material and diagnosis of a new taxon of alvarezsaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41 (5): e2036174. - Alexander O.Averianov & Hans-Dieter Sues - … Read more
In Depth Tornieria fossils were first found in 1907 and described the next year by the German palaeontologist Eberhard Fraas. However, at this time Fraas decided to call the new genus Gigantosaurus, but the problem with this is that the name Gigantosaurus had already been used by Harry Govier Seeley to name a genus of … Read more
In Depth Kataria was a macrostomatan snake that lived in Bolivia during the Danian stage of the Paleocene. At the time of its description, Kataria was the oldest macrostomatan snake known from South America. As a macrostomatan snake, Kataria would be expected to be able to disarticulate its jaw so that it could swallow larger … Read more
In Depth Odoiporosaurus is a genus of pachypleurosaur that lived in Europe during the mid Triassic. Further Reading - A new pachypleurosaur from the Middle Triassic Besano Formation of Northern Italy.- Neues Jahrbuch f�r Geologie und Pal�ontologie - Abhandlungen 271 (2): 151. - S. Renesto, G. Binelli & H. Hagdorn - 2014.
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
Intro of Struthiomimus 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 … 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