Discovery and classification history of Saurophaganax Saurophaganax has a complicated taxonomic history due to the fact that it is still only known from very partial remains, some of which bear a strong resemblance to the smaller but more common Allosaurus. This history dates back to the discovery of the first material over 1931 and … Read more
In Depth Kunmingosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in China during the early Jurassic. Further Reading - The reptilian fauna of the Jurassic in China, by Zhao. - In, The Jurassic System of China, Wang, Cheng & Wang - 1985.
In Depth The description of the ceratopsian dinosaur Udanoceratops is based upon the discovery of an almost complete sixty centimetre long skull. This in turn led to size estimates for the missing body leading all the way up to four meters long; however it would be interesting to see how Udanoceratops compares to other later … Read more
In Depth Spiclypeus is a genus of ceratopsian dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - Spiclypeus shipporum gen. et sp. nov., a boldly audacious new chasmosaurine ceratopsid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Judith River Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Campanian) of Montana, USA. - PLoS ONE 11(5). - J. C. Mallon, C. … Read more
In Depth Fossil teeth of Igdamanosaurus were originally described as a species of the mosasaur Globidens by Zdansky in 1935, a later study of a partial jaw from Niger by Lingham-Soliar in 1991 saw the remains raised to the status of a distinct genus. Additionally Igdamanosaurus is now classed within the Plioplatecarpinae due to the … Read more
In Depth Tornieria fossils were first found in 1907 and described the next year by the German palaeontologist Eberhard Fraas. However, at this time Fraas decided to call the new genus Gigantosaurus, but the problem with this is that the name Gigantosaurus had already been used by Harry Govier Seeley to name a genus of … Read more
In Depth Kataria was a macrostomatan snake that lived in Bolivia during the Danian stage of the Paleocene. At the time of its description, Kataria was the oldest macrostomatan snake known from South America. As a macrostomatan snake, Kataria would be expected to be able to disarticulate its jaw so that it could swallow larger … Read more
In Depth Odoiporosaurus is a genus of pachypleurosaur that lived in Europe during the mid Triassic. Further Reading - A new pachypleurosaur from the Middle Triassic Besano Formation of Northern Italy.- Neues Jahrbuch f�r Geologie und Pal�ontologie - Abhandlungen 271 (2): 151. - S. Renesto, G. Binelli & H. Hagdorn - 2014.
In Depth Although the body is still unknown, Thililua is considered to be a polycotylid plesiosaur. Named after the genus Polycotylus, polycotylids had plesiosaur shaped bodies, but proportionately shorter necks and longer jaws, with probably the most famous example of this group being Dolichorhynchops. Although most polycotylid fossils are known from North America, the presence … Read more
Intro of Struthiomimus Struthiomimus remains were actually known all the way back to 1901, but were interpreted by Lawrence Lambe to belong to Ornithomimus altus, the first ornithomimid to be named. In 1917 however, Henry Fairfield Osborn (the man who is perhaps best remembered for naming Tyrannosaurus) identified key differences in the bones, especially the … Read more