In Depth Traukutitan is a genus of titanosaurian dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. Traukutitan was named after Trauku, an Araucanian mountain spirit. The species name T. eocaudata is a reference to the primitive appearing form of the caudal vertebrae. There is speculation that Traukutitan was a lognkosaurian titanosaur, and this … Read more
In Depth Asprosaurus is the first genus of Mesozoic aged lizard to be discovered on the Korean peninsula. At the time of its description Asprosaurus is only known from fragmentary fossils, but still researchers have speculated that it may be a prehistoric relative of the Gila Monster. Further Reading - The first lizard fossil (Reptilia: … Read more
In Depth Khaan is a genus of small oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous. Studies into Khaan individuals may have revealed differences between males and females. On some specimens, the caudal (tail) vertebrae have reduced chevrons, and this has been seen as a sign of a female. The reduced chevrons at … Read more
In Depth Among the pterosaurs Quetzalcoatlus is usually treated as one of if not the largest known pterosaur, and so for a long time any large pterosaur bones of the azdharchid line (which Quetzalcoatlus belongs to), were usually attributed to the genus. These included the growing numbers of large azdharchid pterosaur bones that were being … Read more
In Depth Known only from incomplete material, Morrinhosuchus is still an interesting notosuchian. The skull of Morrinhosuchus still retained an antorbital fenestra (an opening in front of the eye socket, and a small notch was present between the premaxilla and maxilla, the two tooth bearing bones of the upper jaw. The mandibles (lower jaw bones) … Read more
In Depth Batyrosaurus has been described as a basal hadrosauroid, the group of ornithopod dinosaurs that would give rise to the more derived hadrosaurids such as Edmontosaurus and Saurolophus towards the late Cretaceous. Compared to other hadrosauroids, the describers considered Batyrosaurus to be more advanced than Altirhinus, but more primitive than Probactrosaurus. In life Batyrosaurus … Read more
In Depth Initially thought to represent a large Pentaceratops individual, Titanoceratops was declared its own genera after further study found the material to belong to a new, although still very similar, ceratopsian dinosaur. The large size of Titanoceratops was the inspiration for the new genera name, with the species name T. ouranos derived from the … Read more
In Depth In 1983 a fossil hunter named William Walker discovered a large fossilised claw in a clay pit. Retrieval of this claw also resulted in the recovery of associated bones that revealed a new and previously unknown type of theropod dinosaur. Alan Charig and Angela Milner described and formerly named the new dinosaur Baryonyx … Read more
In Depth Adriosaurus was an aquatic lizard that is often described as being snake-like. This is because Adriosaurus had a thin elongated body similar to a snakes proportions, yet still retained small limbs. These limbs are widely thought to have been vestigial, which means that they were present yet no longer fulfilled a practical purpose … Read more
In Depth Not a lot of information is available about this snake, but aside from dinosaurs, it would have shared its habitat with other reptiles such as lizards like Obamadon, Leptochamops and Palaeosaniwa. Further Reading - Mass extinction of lizards and snakes at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, Nicholas R. Longrich, Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar & Jacques A. … Read more