In Depth Zhejiangosaurus is not completely known, nor does it seem to show any special features beyond being a nodosaurid. This identification is itself important however since the only two other Asian nodosaurids named before this, Zhongyuansaurus and Liaoningosaurus, have now been re-classified as ankylosaurids. At the time of its description this makes Zhejiangosaurus the … Read more
In Depth Macroplata is classed as a rhomaleosaurid pliosaur, a group notable for having proportionately longer necks and smaller skulls than the more well-known short necked large skulled pliosaurs such as Liopleurodon, Simolestes and of course Pliosaurus itself. A better analogy is that Macroplata looks like a cross between the longer necked plesiosaurs of the … Read more
In Depth Pissarrachampsa is a genus of terrestrial crocodile that lived in Brazil during the late Cretaceous. The precise point of time of the Cretaceous is still debated as some point between the Turonian and the Maastrichtian. All that is known for certain is that the holotype fossils of Pissarrachampsa came from the Vale do … Read more
In Depth The crocodiles seem to have been quite resilient to the effects of the KT extinction sixty-five million years ago that marked the death of the dinosaurs, as Brachychampsa is yet another genus of crocodylian that is known to have existed for several million years before and after this extinction event. Dyrosaurus is another … Read more
In Depth For its type Macroleter were fairly large predators that were procolopophonid parareptiles. One former species of Seymouria, S. agilis has been re-assigned as a second species of Macroleter. This makes the type species of Macroleter, M. poezicus known from Russia, and the second species, M. agilis known from the USA. There is also … Read more
In Depth Scaphognathus acquired the somewhat unglamorous name of ‘Tub jaw’ because of the robust snout construction. Still when first described, Scaphognathus was included into the pterodactyloidea because of the lack of a tail. This lack of tail actually misled the original examiner as in realty it had just failed to fossilise with the rest … Read more
In Depth Brasinorhynchus is a genus of rhynocosaur that lived in South America during the Triassic. Further Reading - A new rhynchosaur from south Brazil (Santa Maria Formation) and rhynchosaur diversity patterns across the Middle-Late Triassic boundary. - Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 90:593-609. - C. L. Schultz, M. C. Langer & F. C. Montefeltro - 2016.
In Depth Even though it was ten meters long, it is not its size that makes Stomatosuchus stand out but its presumed feeding strategy. The upper jaw only had small conical teeth, while the lower jaw has been suggested at being toothless, with the inclusion of a pelican like pouch underneath. This is unprecedented amongst … Read more
In Depth There are many interesting archosaurs that lay within the Allokotosauria group, and Shringasaurus is no exception. Although the holotype skull of Shringasaurus is incomplete, it is enough to confirm that this archosaur had large horns that rose up from above the eyes and pointed forwards. Horns such as these are usually seen as … Read more
In Depth Youngosuchus was first described in 1973 by C. C. Young as a species of the genus Vjushkovia, V. sinensis. In 1985 however a re-description by Kalandadze & A. G. Sennikov saw the species described as a distinct genus, Youngosuchus. Since then there has been some uncertainty as to what kind of archosauromorph Youngosuchus … Read more