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 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
In Depth On a Chinese construction site in 1973 a dinosaur skeleton was accidentally processed by a mechanical composter. Unfortunately by the time the workers had realised what had happened much of the dinosaur had already been damaged and in some places completely destroyed by the machinery, but palaeontologists were still able to reconstruct and … Read more
In Depth Originally named as a species of Iguanodon by Richard Lydekker in 1888, the holotype fossils of this genus were actually named as a new genus twice in 2010, in two separate papers published that year. The holotype specimen was first named by David Norman as Barilium, and then by Kenneth Carpenter and Yusuke … Read more
In Depth Magnamanus is a genus of iguanodont dinosaur that lived in Spain during the early Cretaceous. The name Magnamanus means ‘large hand’, a reference to the enlarged well developed hands that this dinosaur genus adapted, notably more so than other known iguanodonts. The first individual of Magnamanus was at the time of its naming … Read more
In Depth Duriavenator was for a long time attributed to Megalosaurus, part of the ‘wastebasket taxon’ effect which saw Megalosaurus becoming a home for many fossils that actually represented similar yet different dinosaurs. Further Reading – A redescription of “Megalosaurus” hesperis (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Inferior Oolite (Bajocian, Middle Jurassic) of Dorset, United Kingdom. – … Read more
In Depth Lophostropheus was initially assigned as a specimen of Halticosaurus until 1993 it was re-classified as a second species of Liliensternus, a genus that was also previously established as a species of Halticosaurus. A new study in 2007 however concluded that while the fossils were similar, they were different enough to be established as … Read more
In Depth Qijianglong is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in China during the late Jurassic. At the time of writing the genus is only known from a single juvenile, yet this juvenile is already fifteen meters long. It is uncertain how big Qijianglong could grow, but at fifteen meters just for a juvenile, … Read more
In Depth The discovery of Gilmoreosaurus began in 1923 when the first fossil remains were discovered. These remains were however referred to the genus Mandschurosaurus as a new species, which is where they remained until a study by Brett-Surman in 1979 saw them re-identified as a distinct genus separate from Mandschurosaurus. Later in 1995, two … Read more
In Depth It could be said that Jobaria is a sauropod that doesn’t know what it is due to a mix of different traits. The vertebrae of Jobaria are very simple in form which has led to some suggestion that Jobaria is a primitive sauropod. Study of other areas however has led to speculation that … Read more