In Depth Ligabuesaurus is a genus of titanosaurid dinosaur that lived in Argentina towards the end of the early Cretaceous. Ligabuesaurus was named in honour of Dr Giancarlo Ligabue, while the type species L. leanzai was named in honour of Dr. Hector Leanza, the geologist who discovered the holotype specimen. Further Reading - Ligabuesaurus leanzai … Read more
In Depth Bactrosaurus is one of the earliest hadrosauroids known from Asia, and also one of the best known. Bactrosaurus still had three stacked teeth for each tooth in the maxilla, an iguanodont feature that reveals the ancestry of the genus. However, Bactrosaurus also has a number of hadrosauroid features, particularly those of lambeosaurines (hollow … Read more
In Depth Mojoceratops was discovered by a close examination of some skulls that had been assigned to the more well Chasmosaurus. The more the skulls were studied the more differences were discovered, resulting in the creation of a new genus. The palaeontologists who were looking the skulls over initially came up with name Mojoceratops when … Read more
In Depth Ouranosaurus similarities and differences to Iguanodon Although initially classed as an iguanodontid dinosaur, subsequent studies of Ouranosaurus fossils have revealed it to be a form of basal hadrosaur. Despite this, Ouranosaurus still bears some features that are similar to the more famous Iguanodon, specifically the forelimb. The hands of the forelimbs still have … Read more
In Depth When remains of Shantungosaurus were first found they were found in a bone bed of at least five individual dinosaurs. Though none of these were of a complete skeleton, composites of incorporating the bones of more than one individual have been assembled with the largest producing a hadrosaurid dinosaur just over sixteen and … Read more
In Depth Tethyshadros is without doubt one of the more interesting genera of hadrosauroid dinosaurs. For a start hadrosauroids are not particularly well known from Europe, though large ornithopod dinosaurs which were ancestral to them are. Tethyshadros also seems to have been a dwarf hadrosaur, growing to an average length of four meters. This reduction … Read more
In Depth In a nutshell Kotasaurus is one of the most primitive sauropod dinosaurs discovered. So primitive is Kotasaurus that the genus still possesses features that are known in sauropodomorph dinosaurs. This led to a lot of initial confusion over whether Kotasaurus was an advanced sauropodomorph, or a primitive sauropod, though today the interpretation of … Read more
In Depth After Mymoorapelta in 1994, Gargoyleosaurus was the second ankylosaur to be named from the Morrison Formation. Specifically Gargoyleosaurus is a polacanthine dinosaur and had an arrangement of bony armour and spikes across its back and sides. Gargoyleosaurus also had a large bony plate that covered its hips from above. This armour was an … Read more
In Depth When first described in 1979, Mussaurus was only known from juvenile individuals, and until 2013 this was supposedly the case. However in 1980 the adult were actually described, they had just been classed under the genus Plateosaurus. With a re-evaluation of these in 2013, Mussaurus is also known from adult remains, and the … Read more
In Depth Although only fragmentary remains are known Ilokelesia has been identified as a basal abelisaurid. Like many South American dinosaurs, Ilokelesia had been named using the Mapuche language from a combination of the works ‘ilo’ (flesh) and ‘kelesio’ (lizard). Further Reading – A basal Abelisauria Novas, 1992 (Theropoda–Ceratosauria) from the Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. … Read more