In Depth At up to nine meters long Maiasaura was not amongst the largest known hadrosaurid dinosaurs, though it still tipped the scale to be considered big for its kind. Like with its hadrosaurid relatives, Maiasaura is thought to have been a primarily bipedal dinosaur, though one that was at least capable of balancing if … Read more
In Depth Telmatosaurus was originally named as Limnosaurus transsylvanicus, however after this naming in transpired that the genus name Limnosaurus had already been used by the American palaeontologist Othniel Charles Marsh to name a crocodile (later it would actually be declared a synonym of Pristichampsus). The original name came about from the popular idea of … Read more
In Depth Described from remains that were recovered from a bone bed, Xenoceratops was labelled by some writers as the ancestor to the world famous Triceratops. In actuality however Xenoceratops is considered to be a member of the centrosaurinae, one of the two main groups of ceratopsian dinosaurs that include the small frilled but large/many … Read more
In Depth Goyocephale was a mid-sized genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaur that is known to have lived in what is now Mongolia during the Cretaceous. Goyocephale is noted for having a flat skull as opposed to a more ornate dome which is characteristic of other genera such as Pachycephalosaurus and Prenocephale. This could indicate that the … Read more
In Depth Ahshislepelta is a genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous. Unfortunately the partial remains of Ahshislepelta which include a shoulder girdle, partial left forelimb, vertebrae and osteoderms (the bony armour) are not enough to identify the genus as either a general ankylosaurid or a more derived ankylosaurine. … Read more
In Depth The Valdosaurus holotype fossils of two thigh bones (femurs) were first recovered in 1848 but thought to represent Iguanodon, and eventually being thought to be fossils of Hypsilophodon. Skip forward over a hundred years later and palaeontologist Peter M. Galton used the two thigh bones to establish a new species of Dryosaurus, D. … Read more
In Depth First described as a species of Saurolophus in 2013, the species was re-described as a distinct genus, Augustynolophus only a year later. Not much can be said about Augustynolophus, though we do know that it was among the last hadrosaurid genera to live, and may have been around to see the asteroid strike … Read more
In Depth Initially thought to represent a new specimen of Zephyrosaurus, the small partial skull of the holotype was soon realised to be a whole new genus of small ceratopsian dinosaur. Like most primitive ceratopsian dinosaurs, Aquilops was a fairly small dinosaur measuring just over half a meter in length. The name Aquilops means ‘eagle … Read more
In Depth The description of Abrictosaurus was born out of the naming of a species of Lycorhinus earlier in 1974. The palaeontologist Richard Thulborn had named Lycorhinus consors, based upon a partial skull and skeleton, UCL B54, of what seemed to be a Lycorhinus angustidens, but lacked the tusk like teeth at the front of … Read more
In Depth Agathaumas has been envisioned as a very large ceratopsian dinosaur, potentially as much as ten meters long, that lived in what is now the USA near the end of the Cretaceous period. However most palaeontologists agree that Agathaumas is a highly dubious genus of ceratopsian since it was based upon the description of … Read more