In Depth Cearachelys is a genus of side-necked turtle that lived in South America during the early stages of the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - Cearachelys, a new side-necked turtle (Pelomedusoides: Bothremydidae) from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil. - American Museum Novitates 3319:1-20. - E. S. Gaffney, D. de Almeida Campos & R. Hirayama - … Read more
In Depth Gasparinisuchus is a genus of peirosaurid notosuchian that is known to have lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. Care should be taken not to confuse Gasparinisuchus with the similarly named Gasparinisaura. Further Reading – A new peirosaurid from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina: Implications for specimens referred to Peirosaurus torminni Price … Read more
In Depth Moros is a genus of primitive tyrannosauroid that lived in North America during the earlier stages of the Late cretaceous. The holotype fossils of Moros date from the Cenomanian of the Cretaceous, meaning that the discovery of these has turned back the clock on the first known appearance of a definitive tyrannosaur in … Read more
In Depth Jintasaurus is a genus of igaunodontid dinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. At the time of writing, Jintasaurus has only been described from partial skull fragments, though these seem to indicate that Jintasaurus was close to becoming a hadrosauroid, a member of the group of dinosaurs that would eventually give … Read more
In Depth Austriadraco is a genus of pterosaur that lived in Austria during the late Triassic. Austriadraco is also noted for bearing a resemblance to the genera Arcticodactylus and Eudimorphodon. Further Reading - Comments on Triassic pterosaurs with discussion about ontogeny and description of new taxa. - Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ci�ncias 87(2):669-689. - … Read more
In Depth Clovesuurdameredeor is a genus of thalattosuchian (sea crocodile) that lived in European seas during the mid Jurassic. Clovesuurdameredeor is also another genus established after a major revision of the Steneosaurus genus that took place in 2020. Further reading - Gharial skull from the Cornbrash of Closworth. - Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History … Read more
In Depth At five to six meters long, Wonambi would have been able to tackle any small to medium sized animal it chose. The Aboriginal people living in Australia at the same time as Wonambi were certainly aware of the presence of large snakes and indeed warned their children about going to watering holes alone. … Read more
In Depth A close relative of sauropod dinosaur genera such as Mendozasaurus and Futalognkosaurus, Quetecsaurus is at the time of its description one of the better known dinosaurs of its kind from the Cerro Lisandro Formation. Further Reading – A New Titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous (Cerro Lisandro Formation) of Mendoza Province, Argentina … Read more
In Depth Fossils of Abditosaurus were originally discovered in 1954 and then described in 1956 as belonging to Hypselosaurus. Further study later in the twentieth century however began to see the Hypselosaurus genus as a dubious one, and many fossils that were assigned to new genera. A fresh expedition to the 1954 discovery site between … Read more
The Discovery and Naming of Tylosaurus The discovery of Tylosaurus harks back to the ‘bone wars’, a fierce rivalry between the palaeontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh that took place towards the end of the nineteenth century. As such the naming history of Tylosaurus is muddled and can cause confusion to those who … Read more