In Depth Burianosaurus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in Europe during the earlier part of the late Cretaceous. Burianosaurus is named after palaeoartist Zdeněk Burian. Further Reading - A basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Cenomanian of the Czech Republic. - Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 16(11):967-979. - D. Madzia, C. A. Boyd & … Read more
In Depth Cionodon is a dubious genus of hadrosaur that is based only upon very partial and fragmentary remains. So far two species of Cionodon continue to exist, but because of the poor quality of their fossils, it is next to impossible to assigned further remains to them, or even to identify them as synonymous … Read more
In Depth One of the earliest known ankylosaurs, Shamosaurus is regarded as being very similar to Gobisaurus, however there is enough fine detail differences in the skulls of the two genera that palaeontologists are confident in assigning these two ankylosaurs as separate genera. Unfortunately there are not yet enough remains to confidently estimate the size … Read more
In Depth Not a lot can be said about Pawpawsaurus because so far it is only known by a skull. However, another nodosaur from the Paw Paw Formation is Texasetes (which includes post cranial remains), which has been suggested as being a synonym to Pawpawsaurus. If this is true, then the current Pawpawsaurus fossil material, … Read more
In Depth Barsboldia is so far only known from vertebrae and some fragmentary remains of other parts of the post cranial skeleton. At the time of writing no skull is known for the genus, yet the original describers still chose to class Barsboldia as a lambeosaurine hadrosaurid dinosaur. Later studies however have cast doubts about … Read more
In Depth The holotype fossil of a partial jaw of Regnosaurus was recovered by Gideon Mantell who considered it to belong to an unknown large prehistoric animal. Mantell would later name his animal Igaunodon, though it was still referred to as a big lizard since the word dinosaur had still not been invented. Mantell realised … Read more
In Depth Dongyangopelta is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur that lived in South-east China around the early/late Cretaceous boundary. Nodosaurids were similar to ankylosaurids, though they lacked the clubbed tail and usually had narrower skulls. Another genus of nodosaurid dinosaur named Zhejiangosaurus is also known from this part of China, though there are clear differences … Read more
In Depth Originally named as a species of Iguanodon, Dakotadon is so far only known from a partial skull. Like other ornithopods, Dakotadon would have fed upon plants growing at varying heights, adjusting its stance and posture to reach. Further Reading - A revised taxonomy of the iguanodont dinosaur genera and species. – Cretaceous Research … Read more
In Depth Minotaurasaurus was an Asian ankylosaurid dinosaur, presumably of the late Cretaceous. However the skull that makes up the holotype of Minotaurasaurus is more famous for the controversy surrounding it. The skull was purchased from a fossil dealer by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, who in turn allowed it to be studied by palaeontologists. However at … Read more
In Depth Although only a very small dinosaur, Lesothosaurus has raised a lot of questions as to exactly what it was and how the genus was related to other ornithischian dinosaurs. When first described by Galton in 1978, Lesothosaurus was proposed to be an ornithopod. However the genus has also been considered to be a … Read more