In Depth The genus Metoposaurus was originally named as Metopias by Christian von Meyer in 1842, but the name was replaced and changed to Metoposaurus by Richard Lydekker in 1890. Metoposaurus is the type species of the Metoposauridae, a group of temnospondyl amphibians that are particularly noted for having eyes that are placed further forward … Read more
In Depth Megaraptor made headlines at the time of its discovery because of the large thirty centimetre long claw that at the time was thought to be the sickle shaped claw that belonged on the second toe of a dromaeosaurid dinosaur like Velociraptor, but much bigger. However the discovery of a complete forelimb revealed this … Read more
In Depth Pulanesaura is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in South Africa during the early Jurassic. Though only known from partial remains and with much of the neck missing, available fossils do show that Pulanesaura was already developing the very long neck that would be a signature feature of the sauropods by the … Read more
In Depth The large size of Erythrosuchus meant that it was an apex predator capable of tackling large herbivores such as Kannemeyeria and Lystrosaurus that were active in at the same time and location. Erythrosuchus was probably a relatively slow moving predator, although given the types of large prey available, speed would not have been … Read more
In Depth Paraplacodus was very similar to another placodont named Placodus, hence the name which means ‘almost Placodus’, and as such it would have looked like a cross between a newt and a marine iguana with small teeth that protruded from the front of the mouth. These teeth would allow for a feeding behaviour where … Read more
In Depth Collilongus is a genus of archosauriform that lived in Poland during the Triassic. Little is known about Collilongus because so far the genus is only known from teeth. Further Reading - Archosauriform postcranial remains from the Early Triassic karst deposits of southern Poland. Palaeontologia Polonica 65:283-328. - M. Borsuk−Białynicka & A. G. Sennikov … Read more
In Depth Huangshanlong is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in China during the mid Jurassic. Unfortunately, because only a couple of forelimb bones have been used to describe the genus, not much can be said about this dinosaur. The describers were of the opinion that Huangshanlong repesented a mamenchisaurid sauropod, a type of … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – A New Horned Crocodile from the Plio-Pleistocene Hominid Sites at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. – PLoS One 5(2). – C. A. Brochu, J. Njau, R. J. Blumenschine & L. D. Densmore – 2010. – A new cranium of Crocodylus anthropophagus from Olduvai Gorge, northern Tanzania. – Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e … Read more
In Depth When described in 2015, Probrachylophosaurus made headlines around the world, when it was often dubbed ‘superduck’. This was because Probrachylophosaurus was proposed to be the transitional link between the non-crested genus Acristavus, and the later Brachylophosaurus which has a flat paddle shaped bony crest. Probrachylophosaurus itself has a much smaller triangular crest which … Read more
In Depth First discovered in 2009 and officially named in November 2013, stratigraphical analysis of the Lythronax holotype remains has led to them being estimated as being deposited around 80.6 to 79.9 million years ago. This makes Lythronax one of the oldest tyrannosaurids known in North America, and at least 2 million years older than … Read more