In Depth Very little can be said about this titanosaur because it is only represented by a single caudal (tail) vertebrae. In addition to this the palaeontologist who named Khetranisaurus, M. Sadiq Malkani, also named three other titanosaurs Sulaimanisaurus, Pakisaurus and Balochisaurus, Marisaurus in that same year, all from only caudal vertebrae. The first two … Read more
In Depth Herrerasaurus was first described in 1963 yet many sources still cite the year 1988 as the year the genus was discovered. In actually however this was the year that the first complete skull of Herrerasaurus was found, and because this is the discovery that really made headlines in the scientific press, this is … Read more
In Depth Bienosaurus is a genus of armoured dinosaur that lived in China during the early Jurassic. Although only known from fragmentary skull and jaw fossils, Bienosaurus is thought to have been similar to Scelidosaurus. Further Reading - Primitive armored dinosaur from the Lufeng Basin, China, by Z. Dong. In Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, D. H. … Read more
In Depth Vespersaurus is a genus of noasaurine theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous. At the time of its description Vespersaurus is notable for two reasons. First is that the Vespersaurus holotype fossils were discovered in an area that back in the early Cretaceous was part of a huge desert, … Read more
In Depth Scutellosaurus was a relatively small ornithischian dinosaur that may have been primarily bipedal, though still having fore limbs developed enough for providing quadrupedal support for activities such as feeding. Scutellosaurus also had a covering of armoured scutes along its back that provided flexible yet tough armour to give some defence against the teeth … Read more
In Depth Although only described from a partial maxilla, Geminiraptor has still been a significant discovery since it was the first troodont dinosaur known to have lived in early Cretaceous North America. The name Geminiraptor was established to honour Celina and Marina Suarez, twin sisters and the geologists who discovered the Geminiraptor holotype specimen. Further … Read more
In Depth Serikornis is a genus of small anchiornithid dinosaur that lived in China during the late Jurassic. The holotype individual of Serikornis clearly shows the extent of feathers covering the body of this small dinosaur. What is surprising though is how much these feathers varied in relation to different parts of the body. A … Read more
In Depth Named after the title character in the 1942 film Bambi, Bambiraptor was a small dromaeosaurid dinosaur that has caused a lot of excitement in the science of palaeontology. Discovered by a fourteen year-old Wes Linster in 1993, the Bambiraptor holotype is of an exceptionally well preserved individual that is estimated to be around … Read more
In Depth A little known theropod from the mid Jurassic of China, Shidaisaurus was so far only been described from partial remains. However, the Shidaisaurus remains were discovered along with the remains of several other individual dinosaurs, and the partial remains of an unknown theropod skull found nearby with the skeletal remains of a sauropod … Read more
In Depth Tianchisaurus was originally dubbed (but never officially named) Jurassosaurus because in the same year that it was named, the very first Jurassic park film was released. Incidentally, the name Jurassosaurus was suggested by Steven Spielberg who produced and directed the film. Dong rejected the name Jurassosaurus in favour of Tianchisaurus, but kept the … Read more