In Depth What might have otherwise been an unassuming little lizard, has now become famous worldwide for being named after the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama. The full name Obamadon which means ‘Obama tooth’ is a reference to Barack Obama’s smile. Fossils of Obamadon were originally assigned to Leptochamops denticulatus, but a … Read more
In Depth The remains for Bennettazhia were actually described back in 1928 by Charles W. Gilmore, although he actually assigned the fossils to Pteranodon under the new species name P. oregonensis. It was not until 1989 when S. Christopher Bennet found that the remains were not those of a Pteranodon but of an unknown azhdarchid … Read more
In Depth During the Cretaceous period much of Modern day Manitoba would have been submerged under the Western Interior Seaway, which is how the fossils of the mosasaur Latoplatecarpus made it so far inland. After the original material was prepared and described, some further remains that were once attributed to Plioplatecarpus were reassigned to Latoplatecarpus … Read more
In Depth The type specimen was originally assigned to the genus Microceratops (now a synonym to Microceratus), Graciliceratops seems to have been a small and lightly built ceratopsian dinosaur. Graciliceratops seems to have been more comfortable in a bipedal posture, but already it is clear that Graciliceratops would have been easily able to adopt a … Read more
In Depth Culebrasuchus is a genus of caiman crocodile that lived in Central America during the early Miocene. The presence of Culebrasuchus in Panama has also led to speculation that North and South America may have been joined much earlier than previous thought, albeit only temporally, though other kinds of caiman are known from slightly … Read more
In Depth Originally described as a species of Valdosaurus, Elrhazosaurus is a genus of small dryosaurid ornithopod that lived in Africa during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - Valdosaurus, a hypsilophodontid dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Europe and Africa. - G�obios 15 (2): 147–159. - P. M. Galton & P. Taquet - 1982. - … Read more
In Depth Although only known from partial skull material Sinoceratops displays features that are seen in both the centrosaurine and chasmosaurine lines of the ceratopsian dinosaurs. Although larger than others of the group, Sinoceratops is considered to be a basal centrosaurine, and its discovery has shed a little more light on ceratopsian evolution. Unfortunately however, … Read more
In Depth Jiangxisaurus is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in China during the late Cretaceous. Other oviraptorid dinosaurs known from the Nanxiong Formation where the holotype specimen of Jiangxisaurus was found include Banji, Ganzhousaurus, Huanansaurus and Nankangia. Further Reading - A New Oviraptorid Dinosaur (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Jiangxi Province, … Read more
In Depth Siamosaurus is a little known and often considered dubious genus of spinosaurid dinosaur since it has so far only been described from teeth. Siamosaurus was the first and only known genus of spinosaurid dinosaur known from Asia until the 2012 description of Ichthyovenator from partial post cranial bones. Like other spinosaurids, Siamosaurus was … Read more
In Depth Initially thought to be a juvenile Megaraptor, Unenlagia was found to not only be a separate species but one that would challenge the notions for the origins of flight. Unenlagia fits into the Unenlagiinae group, which is also considered by some to be the rightful home of the dromaeosaur Rahonavis. If correct, that … Read more