In Depth At between eleven and thirteen meters long it goes without saying that Purussaurus was an apex predator capable of attacking large prey. As a caiman crocodile, Purussaurus had an extremely stout and robust skull that housed large conical teeth suited for gripping and holding onto powerful prey. Purussaurus is one of the growing … Read more
In Depth Crichtonsaurus seems to have been a fairly small genus of ankylosaur that lived in China during the earlier stages of the Late Cretaceous period. As an ankylosaur Crichtonsaurus would have been a squat quadrupedal dinosaur that browsed upon low growing plants. At the time of writing two species of Crichtonsaurus have been identified … Read more
In Depth Fossils sitting in a museum and sometimes thought to belong to one kind of ceratopsian dinosaur are sometimes found to actually represent another upon later examination. This is how others such as Mojoceratops and Spinops were discovered, and is also how Ojoceratops was discovered. Ojoceratops was classed as Torosaurus, but is thought to … Read more
In Depth Gavialimimus is a genus of mosasaur that lived in waters around North Africa during the latest Cretaceous. Gavialimimus is noted for its jaws which are substantially longer and more slender than those of most other mosasaurs. This would clearly be an adaptation for specialised feeding, possibly for either fish or squid. This may … Read more
In Depth Makhaira is a genus of pliosaur that lived in waters that once submerged parts of Russia during the early Cretaceous. Due to lack of fossil material, little is known about the overall details of Makhaira. But these remains seem to have come from a small to medium sized pliosaur. The known teeth of … Read more
In Depth At the time of the genus description very little is known about Triopticus. Only known from a partially preserved braincase, we don’t know the size of Triopticus, what it ate, or even what kind of creature it was other than just giving it the tentatively cautious title of being an archosauriform. What we … Read more
In Depth Named from a skull and seven neck vertebrae, Sarmientosaurus is a genus of titanosaur that lived in South America during the early stages of the Late Cretaceous. Sarmientosaurus is noted for having eyes sockets that were proportionately larger than in other titanosaurs. Studies of the inner ear area also show that held was … Read more
In Depth Although the genus name means crocodile, Walgettosuchus was actually a theropod dinosaur, although the single opalised vertebrae that it is known from has been criticised as not being diagnostic enough to establish a specific genus. As such Walgettosuchus is generally regarded as being what is called a nomen dubium, a genus that cannot … Read more
In Depth Originally named as a species of Camptosaurus, Uteodon was a fairly primitive iguanodont dinosaur that lived in what is now Utah during the late Jurassic. As an iguanodont, Uteodon would have been a primarily quadrupedal plant eater, though it may have still reared up on its hind legs to reach higher vegetation. Possible … Read more
In Depth Kelumapusaura is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. The establishment of Kelumapusaura was born out of the discovery of a bone bed of at least several individuals. Further reading - A new hadrosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Late Cretaceous of northern Patagonia and the radiation … Read more