In Depth One of the most common European sauropods of the Jurassic, Cetiosaurus is actually one of the most primitive. In more advanced sauropods the vertebrae are hollow as a weight saving feature, however Cetiosaurus has solid vertebrae which hint at its basal position in the evolution of sauropods. These solid vertebrae are similar to … Read more
In Depth Officially named and described in 2015 from a single skull, Regaliceratops has already gone down as a particularly interesting ceratopsian dinosaur. The larger ceratopsians of the late cretaceous are usually divided into centrosaurines and chasmosauines, the former having large nasal horns and reduced frills, while the latter usually have reduced nasal horns and … Read more
In Depth Toyotamaphimeia was originally described as a prehistoric species of the Tomistoma genus, better known as the false gharial. Today the false gharial is known to attain lengths of up to five meters in the wild, with isolated skulls suggesting a theoretical limit of somewhere between five and a half and six meters long. … Read more
In Depth The maximum adult size of Dryosaurus is difficult to estimate as all of the known specimens seem to represent animals that were still growing. What is known is that Dryosaurus was a bipedal dinosaur of the bird hipped group. It had a light build with long legs, long neck and a stiff tail, … Read more
In Depth Although not very well known, Jaxartosaurus possesses a hollow helmet shaped crest on top of its skull similar to the better known Corythosaurus. Because this crest is hollow, Jaxartosaurus had been confidently assigned to the Lambeosaurinae group of hadrosaurs which are typified by their hollow crests. The crest of Jaxartosaurus like its lambeosaurine … Read more
In Depth Fossils of this titanosaur were found near lake Rukwa in the Rukwa Valley of Tanzania, so the eventual name of Rukwatitan was really just a foregone conclusion. At about nine meters long, the holotype appears to indicate that Rukwatitan was a fairly small genus of titanosaur. One area of note is that the … Read more
In Depth Laosaurus is today considered to be a dubious genus of dinosaur. Though previously considered to be a hypsilophodont (relative of Hypsilophodon), most of the fossil remains once attributed to Laosaurus have ended up being considered to be other genera such as Orodromeus, Dryosaurus and Othnielosaurus. What few fossils that are still assigned to … Read more
In Depth Although only known from partial remains, Tataouinea has been identified as a rebbachisaurid sauropod, and one that is closely related to genera such as Nigersaurus, which are also known to have been present in North Africa during the early Cretaceous. The fossils of Tataouinea have revealed in life the bones of Tataouinea would … Read more
In Depth When first discovered only the top part of the skull of Majungasaurus was known. This fragment revealed a dome like structure which was taken to be indicative of a pachycephalosaur. Further fossil material would reveal the truth about Majungasaurus being a carnivorous theropod, although this was not the first time that a carnivorous … Read more
In Depth Further Reading A giant crocodile from the Plio-Pleistocene of Kenya, the phylogenetic relationships of Neogene African crocodylines, and the antiquity of Crocodylus in Africa. – Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (3): 587. – C. A. Brochu & G. W. Storrs – 2012.