In Depth Like with many early named dinosaur genera, the taxonomic history of Acanthopholis is in the simplest terms a mess. Numerous species have been named, reallocated, moved to other genera, and back again, but all of the fossils involved have been isolated bones found in association to one another. The first bones assigned to … Read more
In Depth Agathaumas has been envisioned as a very large ceratopsian dinosaur, potentially as much as ten meters long, that lived in what is now the USA near the end of the Cretaceous period. However most palaeontologists agree that Agathaumas is a highly dubious genus of ceratopsian since it was based upon the description of … Read more
In Depth Akainacephalus is a genus of ankylosaur that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous. During this time, the central portion of North America was submerged by the Western Interior Seaway, carving North America into two landmasses; Appalacia to the East, and Laramidia to the West. Akainacephalus hails from the southern portion of … Read more
In Depth Aeolosaurus is one of the better known South American titanosaurs of the late Cretaceous period. The name is derived from the mythical figure of Aeolus who was dubbed the ‘keeper of the winds’ in Homer’s Odyssey. It might seem rather obscure to name a dinosaur after this figure, but it is actually in … Read more
In Depth Archaeoceratops is yet another of the increasingly large number of basal ceratopsian dinosaur remains that are coming from Asia. These remains point to an Asian ancestral origin for all ceratopsians from Protoceratops of Mongolia, to huge and horned Triceratops and Styracosaurus of North America. Archaeoceratops however was very different to these larger later … Read more
In Depth Aegyptosaurus was a mid-sized sauropod dinosaur that is known to have lived in what is now Egypt from both sides of the early/late Cretaceous boundary. Unfortunately we only have the original descriptions of this dinosaur for study as the original fossils were destroyed along with the Munich museum during an allied bombing raid … Read more
In Depth Aquilarhinus named for the perceived appearance of the snout which in life is thought to resemble the hooked bend of an eagles beak, suggesting Aquilarhinus may have had a specialised feeding method. Study of the lower jaw has led to a postulated reconstruction of front of the jaws having a rounded shovel-like structure. … Read more
In Depth Apatoraptor is a genus of caenagnathid oviraptosaur that lived in Canada during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new caenagnathid (Dinosauria: Oviraptorosauria) from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada, and a reevaluation of the relationships of Caenagnathidae. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 36(4):e1160910:1-18. - G. F. Funston & P. J. Currie … Read more
In Depth Ammosaurus has a long taxonomic relationship with Anchisaurus. The holotype fossils of Ammosaurus were originally described as a large species of Anchisaurus by Othniel Charles Marsh before they were erected as a distinct genus. Marsh then named a new species of Anchisaurus, A. solus, but then attributed that to Ammosaurus. Later palaeontologists found … Read more