In Depth Today Cryptosaurus is considered to be a genus of ankylosaur, though because it is only known by a partial femur the genus is considered dubious because it would be almost impossible to assign further remains to the genus. When first described by Harry Govier Seeley, Cryptosaurus was thought to have been a relative … Read more
In Depth Thescelosaurus seems to have been one of the main herbivorous dinosaurs roaming around North America towards the end of the Cretaceous period. The first fossils of Thescelosaurus began to be recovered in the closing decade of the nineteenth century, but were not described until 1913 by Charles W. Gilmore, who provided a much … Read more
In Depth Zhanghenglong was described at the time of its description as a non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid, which translated into simpler terms is a primitive hadrosaur. Hadrosauroids like Zhanghenglong were descended from the older iguanodont ornithopods that rose to prominence during late Jurassic and early Cretaceous. By the earlier stages of the late cretaceous that had evolved … Read more
In Depth Sauropelta is one of the better known nodosaurids, armoured dinosaurs that are thought to be ancestral to the later and more heavily armoured ankylosaurids. This armour was in the form of lots of osteoderms (bony plates that are held within the skin that are also sometimes called scutes) that varied greatly in size … Read more
In Depth The name Tsagantegia means ‘of Tsagen-Teg’ which can be further translated to Englishto mean ‘of White Mountain’, and this is a reference to the location where the holotype skull of Tsagantegia was first discovered. Tsagantegia is currently represented by a single skull, the features of which clearly identify Tsagantegia as an ankylosaurid dinosaur. … Read more
In Depth Othnielosaurus is a genus of small ornithopod dinosaur that seems to have been widespread across Central North America during the late Jurassic. Othnielosaurus would have been a bipedal dinosaur relying more upon speed and agility to stay out of the mouths of predatory dinosaurs. Othnielosaurus like other ornithopods were herbivorous dinosaurs that would … Read more
In Depth The holotype specimen of Callovosaurus, an almost complete femur, was first described as a species of Camptosaurus all the way back in 1889 by Richard Lydekker. By 1909 doubts were already being cast as to whether or not this bone actually came from an iguanodontid dinosaur. In 1980 Peter M. Galton took this … Read more
In Depth Stegoceras is one of the more common and better known pachycephalosaurs, and one that seems to have had a range that extended from South west/central Canada to the south western states of the USA. The genus however seems to have been quite a bit smaller than its more famous relative Pachycephalosaurus. Like with … Read more
In Depth So far the pachycephalosaur Texacephale is only known from partial skull bones, mostly of the dome that would have grown from the top the head. Texacephale is noted for having two flanges of bone that grew from each side of the dome. Further Reading - Texacephale langstoni, a new genus of pachycephalosaurid (Dinosauria: … Read more
In Depth Parksosaurus was first described by William Parks as a species of Thescelosaurus in 1926, but in 1937 Charles M. Sternberg reclassified it as a distinct genus. Sternberg chose the name Parksosaurus which means Park’s lizard in recognition of the initial work done by William Parks. Parksosaurus and Thescelosaurus together are proof that even … Read more