In Depth Tricleidus is but one of many cryptoclidid plesiosaurs active in European waters during the Jurassic, although it is not as well-known as the type genus of this group, Cryptoclidus. The type species name T. seeleyi is in honour of the British palaeontologist Harry Govier Seeley. Another species based upon American fossils once attributed … Read more
In Depth Parahongshanornis is a genus of primitive bird that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. The genus is noted for its similarity to another genus called Hongshanornis, hence the name Parahongshanornis which can be translated to English as ‘near Hongshanornis’. Further Reading - A new ornithurine bird (Hongshanornithidae) from the Jiufotang Formation of … Read more
In Depth Monkonosaurus is a dubious genus of stegosaur that lived in what is now Tibet during the late Jurassic. Monkonosaurus is considered to be dubious because only a few bones are known, and these may not be diagnostic enough to assign further fossil remains to. Further Reading - Phylogeny and Evolutionary Stages of Dinosauria. … Read more
In Depth With the skull being wider than it is long, Jeholpterus has the same basic skull morphology consistent with all anurognathid pterosaurs. Most of the teeth are small but some are longer and recurved (backwards towards the mouth). The claws of the hands and feet are long and curved, longer on the hands, meaning … Read more
In Depth Cetiosauriscus is often confused with the similarly named Cetiosaurus, and this is no accident. The name Cetiosauriscus means ‘whale-lizard-like’, a reference to Cetiosaurus which itself means ‘whale-lizard’, so when Friedrich von Huene named the genus in 1927, he was actually saying that Cetiosauriscus was similar to Cetiosaurus. When the genus was first named … Read more
In Depth Found almost complete, Heyuannia was the first oviraptorid to be discovered within the borders of mainland China, specifically Guangdong Province. Up until the description of Heyuannia, other Asian oviraptorids were all discovered in Mongolia. Going by the holotype individual, Heyuannia seems to have been a small mid-sized genus of oviraptorid. The skull of … Read more
In Depth The discovery of Xiaotingia caused some upset in the paleontological community because of its similarities to the world famous Archaeopteryx which has been hailed as the first bird since its discovery in 1861. This is because Xiaotingia is thought to be a dinosaur that is similar to a bird rather than a bird … Read more
In Depth Lazarussuchus was named after the figure of Lazarus of Bethany in the Bible, a person in the Gospel of John who was resurrected four days after his death by Jesus Christ. The relevance here is that the holotype remains of Lazarussuchus were found from a late Oligocene deposit, a period many millions of … Read more
In Depth Until 1970, Daspletosaurus was thought to be another specimen of Gorgosaurus. Both were active at the same time and location as one another, yet closer study of the Daspletosaurus revealed a much more powerful animal than the more lightly built Gorgosaurus. It has been surmised that the two predators may have focused their … Read more
In Depth Vancleavea is a quite unusual genus of reptile as it is quite unlike any other known reptile. Vancleavea had a long body, thick bones, short limbs and a particularly dense and robust skull. Thick bones such as these are commonly seen in reptiles that spend lots of time swimming under the surface of … Read more