In Depth Zhanghenglong was described at the time of its description as a non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid, which translated into simpler terms is a primitive hadrosaur. Hadrosauroids like Zhanghenglong were descended from the older iguanodont ornithopods that rose to prominence during late Jurassic and early Cretaceous. By the earlier stages of the late cretaceous that had evolved … Read more
In Depth Opisthocoelicaudia is a bit of a mouthful to say but is based upon the structure of the caudal vertebrae. The vertebrae connect in a ball and socket fashion, and while the socket part is usually found to point forwards, it’s actually reversed to point backwards in Opisthocoelicaudia. Since this initial discovery however the … Read more
In Depth Erliansaurus is a genus of primitive therizinosauroid from the late Cretaceous of Mongolia, and the fact that the holotype comes from around the late Campanian and early Maastrichtian is an indication that Erliansaurus was a late surviving form that managed to exist in Asia at a time when other more advanced therizinosaurs were … Read more
In Depth Sulaimanisaurus was described by M. Sadiq Malkani in 2006 from seven caudal (tail) vertebrae, with a further four attributed to the genus. Sulaimanisaurus was then classed into the Pakisauridae, created by Malkani, along with Khetranisaurus and Pakisaurus (the latter being the type genus), two more titanosaurs described by Malkani only from caudal vertebrae. … Read more
In Depth Tralkasaurus was named from very partial fossil remains, so it is hard to be certain and the full life features of this dinosuar. At the time of discovery, what can be said is that Tralkasaurus seems to have been an abelisaurid theropod, and one that seems to have been smaller than most other … Read more
In Depth Sauropelta is one of the better known nodosaurids, armoured dinosaurs that are thought to be ancestral to the later and more heavily armoured ankylosaurids. This armour was in the form of lots of osteoderms (bony plates that are held within the skin that are also sometimes called scutes) that varied greatly in size … Read more
In Depth Siamraptor is a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the early Cretaceous. The holotype individual of Siamraptor is only known from a partial skull, jawbone and a few post cranial bones, so precise details or any unusual features if they existed, are still unknown. These scattered bones however do indicate … Read more
In Depth In simple terms Eucnemesaurus was a prosauropod, a member of the group that was ancestral to the later larger sauropods. Eucnemesaurus has a better know association with a former dinosaur genus Aliwalia. Aliwalia was big news when described, even though it was only described from a femur and a partial maxilla. The maxilla … Read more
In Depth Due to the incomplete remains not a lot is known about this dinosaur other than it is probably a basal titanosauriform. The genus name is a reference to the appearance of the tail vertebrae while the species name of R. cooneyi is in honour of J. P. Cooney who owned the land where … Read more
In Depth The name Tsagantegia means ‘of Tsagen-Teg’ which can be further translated to Englishto mean ‘of White Mountain’, and this is a reference to the location where the holotype skull of Tsagantegia was first discovered. Tsagantegia is currently represented by a single skull, the features of which clearly identify Tsagantegia as an ankylosaurid dinosaur. … Read more