Levnesovia

In Depth        Levnesovia is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur that lived in Uzbekistan during the early part of the late Cretaceous.‭ ‬Hadrosauroids were the descendants of the iguanodonts that were common in the late Jurassic/earliest Cretaceous,‭ ‬and the precursors of the hadrosaurids that were common during the final ten-fifteen million years of the Cretaceous. Further … Read more

Emausaurus

In Depth        Emausaurus is a primitive genus of thyreophoran dinosaur that lived in Europe during the early Jurassic.‭ ‬Emausaurus was first described by a description of the skull,‭ ‬though osteoderms‭ (‬bony plates that were in the skin‭) ‬are also known.‭ ‬Emausaurus seems to have been a small to mid-sized dinosaur that would have relied upon … Read more

Litargosuchus

In Depth        Initially thought to represent Pedeticosaurus,‭ ‬though not assigned to an exact species,‭ ‬Litargosuchus was later established upon the description of a complete skull and partial post cranial skeleton.‭ ‬Litargosuchus would have been a fast running predator of smaller vertebrates such as lizards,‭ ‬though larger invertebrates may have also been taken. Further Reading -‭ … Read more

Helveticosaurus

In Depth        For a long time Helveticosaurus was thought to be one of the placodonts,‭ ‬specialist marine reptiles that lived in the Triassic seas‭ ‬that fed upon shellfish.‭ ‬However further analysis has revealed that only the vertebra of Helveticosaurus are similar to the placodonts,‭ ‬which has led to Helveticosaurus being re-classed as a diapsid‭ (‬two … Read more

Brontosaurus

brontosaurus

In Depth The turbulent history of Brontosaurus        For well over one hundred years there was a great question asked amongst dinosaur enthusiasts‭; ‬is Brontosaurus actually Apatosaurus‭?‬ Well this all began in a period of American paleontological history dubbed the‭ ‘‬bone wars‭’‬,‭ ‬a fierce rivalry between two men named Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh.‭ … Read more

Thanatotheristes

thanatotheristes

In Depth        At the time of the genus description,‭ ‬Thanatotheristes is known only from very partially preserved skull and jaw bones.‭ ‬However,‭ ‬these‭ ‬bones show that Thanatotheristes was a large tyrannosaur,‭ ‬and one with a close similarity to Daspletosaurus.‭ ‬The discovery of Thanatotheristes has also added further evidence that the tyrannosaurs of Laramidia‭ (‬the land … Read more

Eousdryosaurus

In Depth        Eousdryosaurus is a genus of small ornithopod dinosaur that lived in Portugal during the late Jurassic.‭ ‬The name Eousdryosaurus means‭ ‘‬eastern Dryosaurus‭’‬,‭ ‬a reference to how Eousdryosaurus is similar to the genus Dryosaurus,‭ ‬but globally lived further to the east,‭ ‬Eousdryosaurus in Portugal,‭ ‬and Dryosaurus in North America. Further Reading -‭ ‬A new … Read more

Cynodontosuchus

In Depth        When named in‭ ‬1896,‭ ‬Cynodontosuchus was not only the earliest known sebecosuchian crocodile,‭ ‬it was also the first confirmed as living before the‭ ‬Cenozoic period.‭ ‬Since this time there are now several Cretaceous sebecosuchian crocodiles known to us,‭ ‬and one of these genera,‭ ‬Baurusuchus,‭ ‬has been proposed by some to be a junior … Read more

Rhipaeosaurus

In Depth        A procolophonomorph parareptile from Russia,‭ ‬Rhipaeosaurus lived during the Mid Permian. Rhipaeosaurus was originally placed within its own group the Rhipaeosauridae,‭ ‬though later analysis seems to place Rhipaeosaurus somewhere between being a nycteroleterid to a basal pareiasaur. Further Reading -‭ ‬New Discoveries of Permian Terrestrial Vertebrates in Bashkiria and the Tchkalov Province.‭ ‬-‭ … Read more

Carsosaurus

In Depth        Carsosaurus was large for and aigialosaurid,‭ ‬but the claim to fame for this reptile was the‭ ‬2001‭ ‬discovery of four juveniles inside the body of an adult.‭ ‬The high degree of preservation in the juveniles as well as‭ ‬their location strongly suggests that these juveniles were actually offspring waiting to be born,‭ ‬and … Read more