In Depth Well preserved dinosaur remains are rare from Australia, but Minmi is one of the exceptions. This is in part due to the small body size of Minmi which meant that it would have been more easily buried than a larger animal, something that would have protected the remains from being scattered by scavengers … Read more
In Depth So far at the time of writing the only known fossils of Kol are of a complete foot. This foot however is enough to identify Kol as an alvarezsaurid dinosaur, and one that was fairly big. The foot of the Kol holotype specimen is about twice the size of the foot of Shuvuuia, … Read more
In Depth Coahuilaceratops attained overnight fame amongst the ceratopsian dinosaurs because it is thought to have the longest brow horns of any within the group. Although no single complete horn has yet been found, palaeontologists studying Coahuilaceratops spent a lot of careful time and effort comparing the available material to other similar chasmosaurine ceratopsians to … Read more
In Depth Ganzhousaurus is an oviraptorid dinosaur that displays a mix of primitive and advanced features which suggests that it is transitory in form between primitive oviraptorids that were around earlier in the Cretaceous, and more advanced ones alive later in the Cretaceous. Though since the fossils for Ganzhousaurus are from a Maastrichtian era deposit, … Read more
In Depth The history of Sinosaurus as a dinosaur taxon goes all the way back to 1948 when the genus was first formally described. However this description was based upon very partial remains something that meant the genus fell by the wayside in popularity stakes, with some palaeontologists even treating the Sinosaurus genus as a … Read more
In Depth Although only a little dinosaur, the taxonomic history of Coelurus can be confusing to say the least. The first small theropod dinosaur from the famous Morrison Formation to be named, in the past the genus Coelurus has crossed paths with other small Morrison formation theropods such as Ornitholestes and Tanycolagreus. In addition to … Read more
In Depth Tastavinsaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in Spain during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new sauropod: Tastavinsaurus sanzi gen. et sp. nov. from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) of Spain. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28 (3): 712–731.- J. I. Canudo, R. Royo-Torres, & G. Cuenca-Besc�s - 2008.
In Depth Machairasaurus is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in China during the late Cretaceous. Machairasaurus was so named from the claws on its fingers which are curved like scimitar swords. It is speculated that these claws may have allowed Machairasaurus to pull and manipulate plant branches or possibly even dig out roots. … Read more
In Depth Europatitan was a very large somphospondylan sauropod dinosaur that lived in Spain during the early Cretaceous. The type species name E. eastwoodi was inspired by the actor Clint Eastwood. Further Reading - Europatitan eastwoodi, a new sauropod from the lower Cretaceous of Iberia in the initial radiation of somphospondylans in Laurasia. - PeerJ … Read more
In Depth Raptorex is a very dubious genus of tyrannosaur that many consider to be a juvenile Tarbosaurus. When Raptorex was first revealed to the world the holotype had already been dug out of the ground and shipped to Japan where it was purchased by an American businessman. Back then the fossil was being identified … Read more