In Depth The material that would be named as Montanoceratops was originally assigned to Leptoceratops as a second species in 1935 as Leptoceratops cerorhynchos. However the original remains were incomplete and when further and more complete material was discovered by C. M. Sternbergi this second species of Leptoceratops was realised to be a different albeit … Read more
In Depth Pantydraco was formerly known as Thecodontosaurus caducus, however re-examination of the many Thecodontosaurus species has resulted in many being regarded as synonyms or actually recognised as new animals, as is the case for Pantydraco. Named after the Pantyffynnon quarry where it was discovered, Pantydraco is thought to represent a basal sauropodomorph. For this … Read more
In Depth Koilamasuchus is a genus of archosauriform that lived in Argentina during the Triassic. Further Reading - A new basal archosauriform diapsid from the Lower Triassic of Argentina. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(5):1433-1450. - M. D. Ezcurra, A. Lecuona & A. Martinelli - 2010.
In Depth With up to forty cervical vertebrae, Microcleidus had a proportionately longer neck than other plesiosaurs. This longer neck has in the past seen Microcleidus treated as an elasmosaurid (the group of long necked plesiosaurs like Elasmosaurus), although Microcleidus has also been considered to be a cryptoclidid (the group established around Cryptoclidus). On top … Read more
In Depth First collected in 1933, and tentatively described in 1956, the fossils of Aenigmastropheus were not granted their own genus until 2014. Aenigmastropheus is a genus of archosauromorph saurian that lived in Tanzania during the Late Permain, something that makes Aenigmastropheus the first and at the time of writing only known late Permian protosaur … Read more
In Depth Miadanasuchus was originally described as a species of Trematochampsa back in 1979, but re-identified as its own genus in 2009. Miadanasuchus may have been one of the key predators of the Maevarano Formation. Other predatory crocodiles from the same formation include Mahajangasuchus and Araripesuchus. Further Reading - New Material of “Trematochampsa” Oblita (Crocodyliformes,Trematochampsidae) … Read more
In Depth Tototlmimus is a genus of ornithomimosaur that lived in Mexico during the late Cretaceous. So far Tototlmimus is only known from fossils of some foot bones and fingers, and so it is hard to infer much about this dinosaur other than that it has been estimated to have been a medium sized ornithomimid. … Read more
In Depth Although only known from the incomplete remains of a juvenile, the dinosaur Siats seems to have been one of the larger theropod dinosaurs from North America. The partial remains of the holotype individual which mostly include elements of the hind quarters are estimated to have come from an individual dinosaur that was … Read more
In Depth Machairoceratops is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous. At the time of the genus description in 2016, Machairoceratops is only known from partial skull and horn remains. We can however ascertain a few facts about this dinosaur. One is that Machairoceratops was a centrosaurine … Read more
In Depth Jiutaisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in China during the Cretaceous. Further Reading - A New Sauropod Dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Jiutai, Jilin, China. - Global Geology 25(1): 6-9. - W. -H. Wu, Z. -M. Dong, Y. -W. Sun, C. -T. Li & T. Li - 2006.