In Depth Rativates is a genus of ornithomimid dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new ornithomimid theropod from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. - B. McFeeters, M. J. Ryan, C. Schr�der-Adams & T. M. Cullen - 2016.
In Depth Tichvinskia was a small procoloniphid reptile that is known to have lived in Russia during the early Triassic. Further Reading - Novye Dannye o Melkikh Kotilosavrakh iz Permi i Triasa SSSR [New Data on Small Cotylosaurs from the Permian and Triassic of the USSR]. - Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR 108(3):547-550. - P. K. … Read more
In Depth Gobititan is a genus of titanosaurian dinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. At the time of writing Gobititan is only known from caudal vertebrae and a partial hind limb, though from these it is possible to infer that Gobititan was a primitive titanosaur. This is because Gobititan is known to … Read more
In Depth The annoying thing about Amtocephale is that it is yet another pachycephalosaur genus that is known only from skull material, specifically the thick dome. The exciting thing about Amtocephale however is that at the time of its discovery it represents what might be the oldest known pachycephalosaur genus. Further Reading - A new … Read more
In Depth An early Cretaceous sauropod from Spain, Aragosaurus is considered to have been similar to the North American Camarasaurus in form. This means that the head would have been carried up high to enable Aragosaurus to browse upon the upper branches of trees, which were simply beyond the reach of low browsing dinosaurs. This … Read more
In Depth Back in the Cretaceous North America was divided into two land masses due to the presence of the Western Interior Seaway, a shallow sea that submerged the central portions of North America all the way from Canada to Mexico. These two land masses were Appalachia in the east, and Laramidia in the west, … Read more
In Depth Saurornithoides seems for lack of a better description an Asian counterpart to the famous Troodon from North America. It shares many morphological similarites including being of a comparble size, large eyes and large brain. For this reason Saurornithoides is thought to have been a nocturnal hunter with the large eyes being of more … Read more
In Depth The best specimen of Grippia was destroyed in World War II, so today we have only this description and other less complete specimens left to study. This makes the key question about what this early ichthyosaur ate very difficult to answer. Early ideas had Grippia down as a predator of armoured prey like … Read more
In Depth Another plesiosaur named Kimmerosaurus is known from the Kimmeridge Clay, and interestingly while Colymbosaurus is known only from incomplete post cranial remains, Kimmerosaurus is known only from the skull and a few cervical vertebra. This has led to speculation that the two genera are actually one and the same species. However, only the … Read more
In Depth Adocus is a genus of freshwater cryptodiran turtle that lived in both Asia and North America. Most Canadian and American fossils are confirmed as coming from Cretaceous deposits, however some fossils are determined as coming from deposits after the Cretaceous, with some as recent as the late Oligocene. Adocus is known to have … Read more