In Depth Although Globidens was not the only mosasaur to adapt to a diet of almost exclusively hard shelled animals, it does display perhaps the most specialised teeth. Rather than the sharp conical teeth seen in other mosasaurs such as Tylosaurus and Taniwhasaurus, Globidens had rounded teeth that had a ‘globe shaped’ upper portion of … Read more
In Depth Drepanosaurus is the type genus of the Drepanosauridae, a special group of diapsid reptiles that are noted for having prehensile tails. What this means is that the tail could be wrapped around objects for additional grip. In addition to this there was a hook on the end of the tail that provided even … Read more
In Depth Epichirostenotes was originally discovered in 1923 before being described in 1997 as a specimen of Chirostenotes pergracilis by Hans-Dieter Sues. Further study and description in 2011 saw this specimen described as its own genus. The type species E. curriei is in honour of the palaeontologist Philip Currie. Although only known from incomplete material, … Read more
In Depth Linlongopterus is a genus of pterosaurs that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new toothed pteranodontoid (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from the Jiufotang Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Aptian) of China and comments on Liaoningopterus gui Wang and Zhou, 2003. - Historical Biology 27(6):782-795. - T. Rodrigues, S. Jiang, X. Cheng, X. … Read more
In Depth Although named in 1999, Mollesaurus got declared as a synonym to Ophthalmosaurus in the following year by a review of the Ophthalmosaurus genus by palaeontologists Michael W. Maisch and Andreas T. Matzke in 2000. This conclusion remained for about ten years until 2010 when a further study by Patrick S. Druckenmiller and Erin … Read more
In Depth Sarcolestes is a genus of ankylosaur that lived in England during the mid-Jurassic. Unfortunately the only part of this dinosaur that is known is a lower jaw bone, so it is difficult to infer much more about this dinosaur. The lack of fossil remains has also cast doubt upon the validity of this … Read more
In Depth Though only named for a partial jaw, Labidiosuchus is still quite interesting as reconstructions of the lower jaw have indicated that it would have had a Y-shaped profile, hence the name Labidiosuchus which translates as ‘forceps crocodile’. Further Reading - A new cretaceous notosuchian (Mesoeucrocodylia) with bizarre dentition from Brazil. - Zoological Journal … Read more
In Depth Eucoelophysis was initially named upon the basis of a proposed similarity to coelophysid dinosaurs like Coelophysis, hence the name Eucoelophysis which means ‘true hollow form’. However a later study by Nesbitt, Irmis and Parker revealed that Eucoelophysis is not a true dinosaur like Coelophysis, but rather a more primitive dinosauriform similar to Silesaurus. … Read more
In Depth The large number of well-preserved Shunosaurus individuals that have been recovered has revealed much about Shunosaurus making it perhaps the most complete sauropod genus known. This material has also allowed palaeontologist to confirm as well as speculate upon new theories for other sauropods that are not as well represented as Shunosaurus. However, despite … Read more
In Depth Saltopus has had a murky taxonomic history with some researchers crediting it with being an early theropod dinosaur, while others insist that it was an advanced archosaur similar to Marasuchus. Currently most palaeontologists agree that Saltopus is most probably a dinosauriform, more advanced than an archosaur, but not quite a dinosaur. One argument … Read more