In Depth Gorgetosuchus is a genus of aetosaur that lived in North America during the late Triassic. At the time of its description, Gorgetosuchus was named upon the basis of osteoderms (bony plates) that would have gone around the skin. These plates are unique from other aetosaurs in that they reach almost all the way … Read more
In Depth The toothless beak of Shenzhoupterus is quite characteristic of the azdarchid line of pterosaurs and indicates a potentially carnivorous diet not restricted to fish. The skull of Shenzhoupterus is proportionately deep and the antorbital fenestra is especially large to accomodate this morphology. A convex shaped crest also rose up from the top of … Read more
In Depth The holotype fossils of Altirhinus were originally classified as a species of Iguanodon, I. orientalis back in 1952. However Iguanodon has long suffered from the wastebasket taxon effect where remains of superficially similar dinosaurs have been attributed to the genus, in part due to its long history and seemingly wide distribution of fossils … Read more
In Depth Athabascasaurus is a member of the Platypterygiinae, a wide ranging group of ichthyosaurs that were active in both hemispheres. Other similar ichthyosaurs include Sveltonectes, Aegirosaurus, Platypterygius and Caypullisaurus amongst others. Further Reading – A new Lower Cretaceous (lower Albian) ichthyosaur genus from the Clearwater Formation, Alberta, Canada. – Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences … Read more
In Depth Fossils of Xinjiangovenator were once attributed to the genus Phaedrolosaurus, however Phaedrolosaurus was originally described from a single tooth with additional lower limb bones referred to the genus upon the basis that they were found near the tooth within the same fossil bearing formation. In 2005 Rauhut and Xu separated these remains from … Read more
In Depth At the time of its description Haplocheirus was the oldest known alvarezsaur by an impressive sixty-three million years before the previous record holder. This places Haplocheirus firmly within the Oxfordian stage of the Jurassic revealing that the alvarezsaurs began at least this far back rather than the early Cretaceous period as previously thought. … Read more
In Depth Lusonectes was named from a combination of Luso (Portugese), and nectes (swimmer), and at the time of its naming it was the only plesiosaur genus named from a Portugese deposit. However Europe during the Jurassic was more a collection of islands rather than the single large land mass it is today, so it … Read more
In Depth Epachthosaurus is a genus of basal titanosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. This is significant because much more advanced titanosaurs were living in South America at this time, which in itself suggests that Epachthosaurus was a late surviving form. One individual of Epachthosaurus (UNPSJB-PV 920) is represented by an … Read more
In Depth As the name suggests, Archaeoistiodactylus is the oldest known istiodactylid pterosaur. Further Reading – A new pterosaur (Pterosauria) from Middle Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of western Liaoning, China. – Global Geology 13:113-118. – J. L� & X. Fucha – 2018.
In Depth Sordes was quite a significant discovery in that the type specimen was found to have had an extensive covering of pycnofibres all over its body. This for lack of a better term would mean that in life Sordes would have appeared hairy. Given that these pycnofibres, or ‘hairs’ in the loosest sense, were … Read more