In Depth Mei was named because it was found in a sleeping pose, not unlike birds today. Study of the bones has revealed they were not totally fused, meaning that the animal was a juvenile. Analysis of the stone the fossil was discovered in shows it to have been buried by volcanic ash. A second … Read more
In Depth Lapampasaurus is a late Cretaceous era genus of hadrosaur. Although only named from partial remains, the discovery is of yet another hadrosaur from South America. The continent of South America has long been assumed to have been isolated from North America during the Cretaceous, but the presence of hadrosaur genera such as Lapampasaurus, … Read more
In Depth Although only named from a partial upper jaw, this is still enough to identify Angulomastacator as a distinct genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur because the front portion of the jaw bends down at an angle of forty-five degrees. If you are unfamiliar with how much this each, look at or imagine a clock face … Read more
In Depth Just like with Ankylosaurus, Nodosaurus is the type genus of a whole group of armoured dinosaurs, yet it is also one of the most poorly represented by fossil material. The nodosaurids are thought to be the ancestors of the ankylosaurids, although to have continued to thrive even in the presence of their more … Read more
In Depth At fifteen meters long it could be said that Datousaurus was a lower average in terms of sauropod sizes of the Jurassic era. The skull of Datousaurus is noted as being deep with ‘spoon-shaped’ teeth for processing plants. Datousaurus is also noted for having a higher reach than some other sauropods that lived … Read more
In Depth Alwalkeria was originally named in 1986 as Walkeria, however the genus name Walkeria was later found to be as preoccupied as it had already been used to name a bryozoan (a kind of tiny aquatic invertebrate). This necessited a revision to the name since naming priority is always given to the first creature … Read more
In Depth Sanxiasaurus is a genus of small ornithischian dinosaur that lived in China during the mid Jurassic. Further Reading - A neornithischian dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Xintiangou Formation of Yunyang, Chongqing, China: the earliest record in Asia. - Historical Biology: 1–14. - Ning Li, Hui Dai, Chao Tan, Xufeng Hu, Zhaoying Wei, Yu … Read more
In Depth Ferrisaurus is a genus of leptoceratopsian dinosaur that lived in Canada towards the end of the Cretaceous period. Further Reading - A new leptoceratopsid dinosaur from Maastrichtian-aged deposits of the Sustut Basin, northern British Columbia, Canada. - PeerJ. - Victoria Arbour & David Evans - 2019.
In Depth The first pachycepahlosaurid dinosaur known from Alaska, Alaskacephale is also one of the few dinosaurs known to have lived in the area that would become that state. Unfortunately not a lot is known about this dinosaur because of a current sever lack of remains, but the original describers believe that Alaskacephale may have … Read more
In Depth Corythoraptor is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in China during the late Cretaceous. Corythoraptor has been described as having a head crest similar to that of a modern day cassowary. The beak of Corythoraptor was also more pointed towards the end, suggesting feeding specialisation. Corythoraptor is one of many oviraptorid dinosaurs … Read more