In Depth One of many diplodocid sauropods of the Morrison Formation (with other genera including Diplodocus, Apatosaurus and Suuwassea amongst others), Dystrophaeus has been the source of a lot of confusion. Edward Drinker Cope, the person who first named Dystrophaeus, thought that the animal belong in the much earlier Triassic period, while Othniel Charles Marsh … Read more
In Depth Hypsilophodon is one of the more famous dinosaurs that have been discovered in the Isle of Wight, however its discovery was delayed by the fact that for the first twenty years of the first fossils discovery, Hypsilophodon was actually believed to be a juvenile Iguanodon. This is of course in reference to the … Read more
In Depth A genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaur, Sphaerotholus has been raising a few questions as to its validity. The type species, S. goodwini is based upon only two very partial skull fossils. S. edmontonensis is based only upon three partial skull domes. This has led some to speculate that the genus is dubious and indifferent … Read more
In Depth Perhaps the most unusual feature of Yongjinglong is the scapula, the part that is equivalent to your own shoulder blade. Although the holotype individual has been estimated to have been about fifteen to eighteen meters long, the shoulder blade was unusually large in proportion at two meters long in itself. In addition to … Read more
In Depth The holotype remains of Chindesaurus were first discovered in 1985 and at first thought to represent a kind of unknown sauropodomorph dinosaur. It was later however that it was realised that Chindesaurus actually represented a kind of primitive theropod dinosaur. Exactly what kind of early theropod dinosaur has been a little bit harder … Read more
In Depth Klamelisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now China during the Mid Jurassic. Klamelisaurus has been noted as being very similar in form to an earlier named genus named Bellusaurus, though in addition to this, some have gone further to say that Klamelisaurus might actually be the adult … Read more
In Depth With a weight estimate of 0.5-0.75 kilos, Fruitadens is by far one of the smallest known dinosaurs. Recovered specimens are thought to represent juveniles and sub adults that are almost fully grown. In appearance Fruitadens is considered to have been similar to Heterodontosaurus, although it may have been closer to Echinodon and Tianyulong … Read more
In Depth After Stegosaurus itself, Kentrosaurus is easily the best known of the stegosaurs. Many herbivores were known to have herded, and support for this in Kentrosaurus comes from the massive collection of bones from the Tendaguru beds. Like other Stegosaurs, Kentrosaurus was considered to be a low browser, although it’s considered possible for Kentrosaurus … Read more
In Depth Since the closing decades of the twentieth century literally thousands of fossil bones of hadrosaurid dinosaurs have been found in Alaska. Initially considered to be lambeosaurines (the type with bony head crests), there were later determined to be saurolophines, specifically similar to Edmontosaurus. Most of these remains however have come from juveniles which … Read more
In Depth Yurgovuchia was a small dromaeosaurine theropod that is often described as being ‘coyote sized’. Although Yurgovuchia is only known from very incomplete remains, mapping the known bones to the proportions of related but better preserved dromaeosaurs has yielded a rough estimate of around two and a half meters, though much of this figure … Read more