In Depth Although only fragmentary remains are known Ilokelesia has been identified as a basal abelisaurid. Like many South American dinosaurs, Ilokelesia had been named using the Mapuche language from a combination of the works ‘ilo’ (flesh) and ‘kelesio’ (lizard). Further Reading – A basal Abelisauria Novas, 1992 (Theropoda–Ceratosauria) from the Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. … Read more
In Depth Wightia is a genus of tapejarid pterosaur that lived in Europe during the early Cretaceous. Wightia is named after the Isle of Wight which is situated on the southern coast of England. Further Reading - First tapejarid pterosaur from the Wessex Formation (Wealden Group: Lower Cretaceous, Barremian) of the United Kingdom. - Cretaceous … Read more
In Depth Named after a demon that appears in Mapuche mythology, Gualicho is a medium sized genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the early stages of the late Cretaceous. Gualicho would have been a predator of other smaller and similarly sized dinosaurs. Gualicho was named as a genus in 2016, and … Read more
In Depth Wulatelong has been considered to be a fairly basal oviraptorid similar to some genera such as Incisivosaurus and Caudipteryx. Unfortunately the holotype remains of Wulatelong have suffered erosion from the harsh environment that they were found in because they were discovered already exposed to the elements. Wulatelong would have likely shared its habitat … Read more
In Depth So the taxonomic history of Monoclonius goes a little something like this. In 1876 multiply dinosaur fossils were recovered from the Judith River in Montana, USA. These fossils were sent to Edward Drinker Cope (One of the two main figures in the Bone Wars) and from these two new dinosaur genera were named, … Read more
In Depth Wangosaurus is a genus of pistosaurs that lived in the waters around what is now China during the Triassic. Pistosaurs like Wangosaurus were the precursors to the plesiosaurs that would rise to prominence by the end of the Triassic, and go on to live in the worlds ‘oceans throughout the Mesozoic. Further Reading … Read more
In Depth Riojasuchus is a genus of ornithosuchid pseudosuchian that lived during the late Triassic. At the time of writing the Ornithosuchidae is a small group of pseudosuchian archosaurs that aside from Riojasuchus, only contains Ornithosuchus and Venaticosuchus. Further Reading - Dos nuevas “faunas” de reptiles triasicos de Argentina [Two new reptilian “faunas” of … Read more
In Depth Named after the Russian palaeontologist Evgenii Aleksandrovich who actually found the holotype material in 1952, Maleevus is today considered to be a dubious genus of dinosaur. This is because it is based upon only a small amount of fossil material which is actually similar to another genus of ankylosaur from the Bayan Shireh … Read more
In Depth Panoplosaurus is one of the more famous of the North American nodosaurs, and a genus that lived during the later stages of the Cretaceous. Like with other nodosaurs, Panoplosaurus would have looked similar to an ankylosaur, though with a few key differences. The most obvious difference at a glance would have been the … Read more
In Depth Pepesuchus is a genus of metasuchian that lived in what is now Brazil during the late Cretaceous. Pepesuchus is noted for having ziphodont teeth that laterally compressed to be blade like with serrated edges. This almost certainly means that Pepesuchus was a carnivore that was well adapted to slicing through the flesh of … Read more