In Depth Riojasuchus is a genus of ornithosuchid pseudosuchian that lived during the late Triassic. At the time of writing the Ornithosuchidae is a small group of pseudosuchian archosaurs that aside from Riojasuchus, only contains Ornithosuchus and Venaticosuchus. Further Reading - Dos nuevas “faunas” de reptiles triasicos de Argentina [Two new reptilian “faunas” of … Read more
In Depth Yubaatar is a genus multituberculate mammal that lived in China during the late Cretaceous. With a reconstructed skull size of seven centimetres, Yubaatar was at the time of the genus description one of the larger known multituberculate mammals known to have been living in Asia during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - Largest … Read more
In Depth Named after the Russian palaeontologist Evgenii Aleksandrovich who actually found the holotype material in 1952, Maleevus is today considered to be a dubious genus of dinosaur. This is because it is based upon only a small amount of fossil material which is actually similar to another genus of ankylosaur from the Bayan Shireh … Read more
In Depth Panoplosaurus is one of the more famous of the North American nodosaurs, and a genus that lived during the later stages of the Cretaceous. Like with other nodosaurs, Panoplosaurus would have looked similar to an ankylosaur, though with a few key differences. The most obvious difference at a glance would have been the … Read more
In Depth Pepesuchus is a genus of metasuchian that lived in what is now Brazil during the late Cretaceous. Pepesuchus is noted for having ziphodont teeth that laterally compressed to be blade like with serrated edges. This almost certainly means that Pepesuchus was a carnivore that was well adapted to slicing through the flesh of … Read more
In Depth The naming of the Borealosuchus genus was born out of a revision of the genus Leidysuchus which has a reputation as something of a ‘wastebasket taxon’. So far four former species of Leidysuchus have been renamed as species of Borealosuchus, though two further species have now also been named. Borealosuchus was a mid-sized … Read more
In Depth Described from a well preserved skull, Barbatteius is a genus of teiid lizard that lived in Romania during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new teiid lizard from the Late Cretaceous of the Hateg Basin, Romania and its � phylogenetic and palaeobiogeographical relationships. - Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. - M. Venczel & … Read more
In Depth Melanosteus seems to have been a fairly small genus of arthrodire placoderm fish that had a near global distribution early from the Silurian to Devonian periods. As an arthrodire placoderm fish, Melanosteus was likely a predator of other aquatic organisms. Melanosteus was named after the Montagne Noire (Black Mountains) of France near where … Read more
In Depth Savannasaurus is a genus of titanosaur that lived in Australia doing the Cretaceous. Hailing from the Winton Formation of Queensland, Savannasaurus would have been in the same habitat as other dinosaurs such as Diamantinasaurus, Austrosaurus and Wintonotitan. Savannasaurus seems to have been quite similar to Diamantinasaurus in form. Possible predatory threats to Savannasaurus … Read more
In Depth Initially described as a species of Plesiosaurus back in 1910, Meyerasaurus has spent a lot of time being shunted around from one genus to another before it was given its own place. First the remains were moved from Plesiosaurus to Thaumatosaurus. Then a long necked pliosaur called Rhomaleosaurus was suggested to be a … Read more