In Depth Another Asian tyrannosaur that was named early in 2016, Timurlengia has been named from isolated fossil remains cantered around a braincase that was first discovered in 2004. The braincase lay in storage at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences until 2014 when Stephen Brusatte, a palaeontologist noted for his work … Read more
In Depth Aratasaurus is a genus of Coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the early Cretaceous. The holotype individual of Aratasaurus is estimated to have been about four years old at the time of death, and only a juvenile or at most a sub adult. Older adults would have likely been larger, … Read more
In Depth Xiongguanlong is what is considered to be an intermediate tyrannosaur, larger than the earlier species, smaller than the larger ones like Gorgosaurus and Alioramus. Xiongguanlong has a long snout on what is a quite narrow skull for a tyrannosaurid. Further Reading – A longirostrine tyrannosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of China. – Proceedings … Read more
In Depth Although only a little dinosaur, the taxonomic history of Coelurus can be confusing to say the least. The first small theropod dinosaur from the famous Morrison Formation to be named, in the past the genus Coelurus has crossed paths with other small Morrison formation theropods such as Ornitholestes and Tanycolagreus. In addition to … Read more
In Depth Tanycolagreus has been dubbed a run of the mill kind of Jurassic predator. Small and lightweight, Tanycolagreus probably focused its attentions on hunting smaller dinosaurs that were too difficult for larger predators to live on. However the holotype specimen is of a three meter subadult, with further referred material indicating a size approaching … Read more
In Depth In 1876 Richard Owen named a new species of Poekilopleuron called P. pusillus. In 1879 this species was adjusted to P. minor by Edward Drinker Cope. Then in 1887 Harry Govier Seeley renamed this species as a new distinct genus, Aristosuchus. However, despite the name ‘suchus’ which is Ancient Greek for crocodile, this … Read more
In Depth Shanyangosaurus is a little known genus of coelurosaurian dinosaur that lived in China. Further Reading - The development and environmental changes of the intermontane basins in the Eastern part of Qinling Mountains. - Geological Publishing House, Beijing. - X. Xue, Y. Zhang, Y. Bi, L. Yue & D.-K. Chen - 1996.
In Depth Although only known from partial remains, Patagonykus is confirmed to have been an alvarezsaur, small bipedal dinosaurs that are thought to have specialised in hunting insects. Dinosaurs like Patagonykus were once thought to have been restricted to the lower stages of the upper Cretaceous, however the discovery of Bonapartenykus in 2012 has revealed … Read more
In Depth The name Koparion is based upon the comparison of the serrated teeth (currently the only known parts of this dinosaur) to ancient versions of scalpels. Despite the lack of overall remains, Koparion is widely regarded as being a troodontid and if this is correct, it would be one of the if not the … Read more
In Depth Archaeornithoides has proven to be a problematic genus since it has been very difficult to ascertain exactly what it was. Only known from partial paired maxilla and dentaries, Archaeornithoides was first considered to be a primitive bird because of what were considered distinct bird-like features. Later discoveries however proved that these distinct bird … Read more