In Depth Alanqa was a significant find as pterosaurs are not especially well known from Africa. This is not to say that Africa did not have many pterosaurs living there, just that the conditions were not conducive for mass preservation given the fragile nature of pterosaur bones (even when well preserved they often get crushed … Read more
In Depth Ninjatitan is a genus of titanosaurid dinosaur that lived in South America during the Early Cretaceous. A very interesting thing about the Ninjatitan genus is that the holotype fossil remains were recovered from a Berriasian/Valanginian aged fossil deposit, which indicates that Ninjatitan may have been amongst the first definitive titanosaurs to walk the … Read more
In Depth Despite its diminutive size Compsognathus is one of the dinosaurs that are best known to science. Not only was the skeleton well persevered but the remains of its last meal, a small lizard named Bavarisaurus were also found inside the specimen proving without doubt that Compsognathus was a carnivore. At the time of … Read more
In Depth Originally described as a species of Thoracosaurus, T. cherifiensis was established as a distinct genus in 2002, creating Elosuchus. Elosuchus was a marine crocodile that that possibly spent most of its life in the water. The gharial -like snout is suggestive that Elosuchus was more of a fish hunter. Further Reading - Elosuchus, … Read more
In Depth Supersaurus is a relative of the ever famous Diplodocus and Apatosaurus (formerly known as Brontosaurus), as these three genera are all described as diplodocid sauropods. Diplodocids are members of the Diplodocidae and are noted for their long necks and tails, the latter of which are very thin and whip-like. Diplodocids can be further … Read more
In Depth Eoconstrictor is a genus of snake that lived in Europe during the Eocene. As a constrictor, Eoconstrictor would have squeezed its prey to death before swallowing them whole. Further reading - Exquisitely Preserved Fossil Snakes of Messel: Insight into the Evolution, Biogeography, Habitat Preferences and Sensory Ecology of Early Boas. - Diversity. 12 … Read more
In Depth Although only known from partial remains, Patagonykus is confirmed to have been an alvarezsaur, small bipedal dinosaurs that are thought to have specialised in hunting insects. Dinosaurs like Patagonykus were once thought to have been restricted to the lower stages of the upper Cretaceous, however the discovery of Bonapartenykus in 2012 has revealed … Read more
In Depth Pukyongosaurus is a genus of titanosaur that lived in Korea during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - A preliminary report on a sauropod from the Hasandong Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Korea. - Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 41-53. - Z. Dong, I. S. Paik, & H. … Read more
In Depth Colombophis is a genus of snake that lived in South America during the Miocene. Further Reading – Le gisement de vert�br�s mioc�nes de La Venta (Colombie) et sa faune de serpents. – Annales de Pal�ontologie (Vert�br�s) 63: 161–190. – R. Hoffstetter & J. C. Rage – 1977. - Reappraisal of the South American … Read more
In Depth In 2005 a fragment of pterosaur jaw bone was acquired by Andr� Jacques Veldmeijer, and then later described as a species of Thalassodromeus, T. oberlii in Veldmeijers’ 2006 dissertation. However, the species was never actually official. Then in 2014 the fragment was described by Headden and Campos not as a species of Thalassodromeus, … Read more