In Depth Known only from partial remains, Cedrorestes is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in North America during the early Cretaceous. Cedrorestes has an uncertain classification, not helped by the fact the fossil bones were damaged prior to being fossilised. Some researchers consider Cedrorestes to be in-between an iguanodont and hadrosaur, while some … Read more
In Depth The discovery of Padillasaurus has been a very important step in South American palaeontology as it represents the first confirmed genus of a brachiosaurid sauropod dinosaur that is known on this continent (though isolated and very fragmentary remains have been found before, they were not complete enough to name a genus). Unfortunately the … Read more
In Depth Rukwanyoka is an extinct genus of snake that lived in Africa during the Oligocene. Further Reading - The Earliest Colubroid-Dominated Snake Fauna from Africa: Perspectives from the Late Oligocene Nsungwe Formation of Southwestern Tanzania. - PLoS ONE 9(3):e90415. - J. A. McCartney, N. J. Stevens & P. M. O’Connor - 2014.
In Depth When you look up the first true mammals in dinosaur books you almost certainly going to be presented with a picture and brief description of Megazostrodon. Modern analysis of Megazostrodon has it in a position that is almost fully mammal, yet not quite. True mammals begin with the triconodont group, something that the … Read more
In Depth Initially through to represent a piece of the dinosaur Troodon in 1943, and later the genus Stegoceras, the single dome that makes up the holotype of this genus was named as Hanssuesia in 2003. This came about as a result of the work of R. M. Sullivan in the Stegoceras genus when he … Read more
In Depth Pachygenys is a genus of skink that lived in Asia during the early Cretaceous. Pachygenys thlastesa, the type species is known from China, while Pachygenys adachii is known from Japan. Further Reading - A new lizard from the Lower Cretaceous of Shandong, China. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19:456-465. - K. Gao & … Read more
In Depth Originally described as a species of Steneosaurus, Plagiophthalmosuchus was a genus of marine crocodile that lived in the waters of Europe during the Jurassic. Further reading - The phylogenetics of Teleosauroidea (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) and implications for their ecology and evolution. - PeerJ. 8: e9808. - Michela M. Johnson, Mark T. Young & Stephen … Read more
In Depth The level of preservation in the holotype individual of Borealopelta is exceptional to say the least. Somehow this land dwelling dinosaur ended up in being preserved in marine sediment, possible suggesting that this individual may have been washed out to sea, perhaps in some sort of flood or land slide. It is probable … Read more
In Depth Teyujagua is a genus of archosauromorph reptile that lived in Brazil during the Triassic. Further Reading - An exceptional fossil skull from South America and the origins of the archosauriform radiation. - Scientific Reports. 6. - Felipe L. Pinheiro, Marco A. G. Fran�a, Marcel B. Lacerda, Richard J. Butler & Cesar L. Schultz … Read more
In Depth Yunyangosaurus is a genus of predatory theropod dinosaur that lived in China during the Mid Jurassic. Further Reading - A new possible megalosauroid theropod from the Middle Jurassic Xintiangou Formation of Chongqing, People’s Republic of China and its implication for early tetanuran evolution. - Scientific Reports. 10: Article number 139. - Hui Dai, … Read more