In Depth Phaedrolosaurus is a problematic genus of dinosaur because at the time of writing the only fossil specimen for this genus is a single tooth. Partial post cranial remains that were once attributed to the genus upon the basis that they were found near the tooth have since been removed and used to establish … Read more
In Depth Although the name Anodontosaurus means ‘toothless lizard’, the teeth were only lost when the holotype skull of Anodontosaurus became compressed during fossilisation. Anodontosaurus was once synonymised with the genus Euoplocephalus, but a re-description of Dyoplosaurus in 2009 by Arbour et al. (also once synonymised with Euoplocephalus) led to the original Anodontosaurus fossils being … Read more
In Depth Ajnabia is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian period towards the end of the Cretaceous period. Ajnabia made headlines in the paleontological world when it was described as this represented the first time that hadrosaurid dinosaur fossils had been found in Africa. Hadrosaurid dinosaurs were for a long … Read more
In Depth Alioramus has stirred a lot of interest and controversy since its discovery, and even though Alioramus has earned worldwide popularity it was for a long time only known from a partial skull and three metatarsals (foot bones). Another problem was the fact that when reconstructed, the skull was narrow and low like in … Read more
Discovery & Reconstruction Spinosaurus as we know it today did not begin to come into existence until the 1990’s, something that is quite surprising when you think that it was first described in 1915. The reason for this is that there has been no choice but to study only the most partial of remains, a … Read more
In Depth At 1.4 meters long, Tylocephale was towards the smaller end of the size scale for a pachycephalosaur. Despite this, Tylocephale managed to evolve the tallest head dome of any currently known pachycephalosaur genera. Tylocephale also likely shared its habitat with the larger pachycephalosaur Prenocephale. Further Reading - Pachycephalosauria, a new suborder of ornithischian … Read more
In Depth With its distinctive back plates, Stegosaurus is one of the best represented dinosaurs in popular culture today. Initially thought to just live in the USA, a partial skeleton discovered in 2006 places Stegosaurus in Portugal. This has significantly increased the known range of this animal and further reinforced the theory that North America … Read more
In Depth The elongated frill of Chasmosaurus had two large fenestra in the middle which would have had a skin covering in life giving the appearance of a ‘solid’ frill. As a display device the frill may have been brightly coloured with an elaborate display. Also since the frill in these parts was soft tissue, … Read more
In Depth Pitekunsaurus was a titanosaurian dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. At the time of writing Pitekunsaurus is usually considered to be an aeolosaurine titanosaur, and as such a relative of such genera as Aeolosaurus, Panamericansaurus and Gondwanatitan. The type species name P. macayai is in honour of Luis Macaya … Read more
In Depth Lurdusaurus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in North Africa during the Early Cretaceous, and one that helped reveal that some ornithopods at least were growing to large sizes. Lurdusaurus is noted for being approximately nine meters long featuring a neck that is longer than most other ornithopods of its kind … Read more