In Depth Afrovenator is one of the most complete theropod dinosaurs so far discovered in Africa, the harsh environmental conditions of which can quickly erode fossils exposed to the elements. Since this time Afrovenator has had a muddled taxonomic history with it being described as a relative of Spinosaurus, Eustreptospondylus, Dubreuillosaurus, Megalosaurus and even Allosaurus. … Read more
In Depth Silvisaurus is to date only known by a partial skeleton, and this is in a poor state of preservation that was weathered and trampled by cattle for a long time before it was discovered. Despite the poor state of preservation, Silvisaurus is considered to have been a primitive form of nodosaur that maybe … Read more
In Depth Not a lot is known about Anarosaurus due to the very fragmentary remains that are all we currently have. What can be ascertained from the remains however is that Anarosaurus was a pachypleurosaur, small reptiles that in appearance looked somewhere between terrestrial lizards and fully aquatic plesiosaurs. With this in mind Anarosaurus would … Read more
In Depth Belodon is an often quoted yet surprisingly obscure genus of phytosaurs. The phytosaurs were physically and presumably ecologically similar to crocodiles, and Belodon seems to have grown to a size approaching smaller crocodiles that we know today. However, not all are convinced about the validity of Belodon, with some palaeontologists regarding it as … Read more
In Depth Like with its probable relative Hupehsuchus, Nanchangosaurus looked like an ichthyosaur crossed with an archosaur. For this reason Nanchangosaurus is regarded as being analogous to an ichthyosaur though at best only distantly related to them, even though it is sometimes listed as one. Unfortunately we can only guess to this exact relationship since … Read more
In Depth With an estimated length of around three meters long Anserimimus was towards the smaller end of the scale in terms of ornithomimosaur size. Other related dinosaurs from the same area such as Gallimius would have been at least double this size, while the very incomplete Deinocheirus would have been even larger than this. … Read more
In Depth Alienochelys is a genus or turtle that lived during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - A strange new chelonioid turtle from the latest Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco. - Comptes Rendus Palevol 13(2):87-95. - F. de Lapparent de Broin, N. Bardet, M. Amaghzaz & S. Meslouh - 2014.
In Depth Atsinganosaurus is named from the Ancient Greek word atsinganos which means ‘gypsy’, and is a reference to a proposed east to west migration for these dinosaurs. The known remains of Atsinganosaurus are fragmentary but in otherwise a good state of preservation. Unfortunately the overall lack of them means that it is hard to … Read more
In Depth Initially considered to be a Southern population of Massospondylus, Adeopapposaurus was established as an independent genus in 2009. Adeopapposaurus is an unusual sauropodomorph since it appears to have had a keratinous beak to its mouth. If correct, then this may have been a feeding specialisation for snipping off foliage from plants. Further Reading … Read more
In Depth Faxinalipterus is a contender for the oldest known pterosaur, although some have put forward the notion that it may be a form of reptile just before true pterosaurs. Whichever may yet prove correct, the fact that Faxinalipterusis only known from a terrestrial location is taken by some to prove that pterosaurs evolved inland … Read more