In Depth Thescelosaurus seems to have been one of the main herbivorous dinosaurs roaming around North America towards the end of the Cretaceous period. The first fossils of Thescelosaurus began to be recovered in the closing decade of the nineteenth century, but were not described until 1913 by Charles W. Gilmore, who provided a much … Read more
In Depth Bayomesasuchus is a genus of peirosaurid crocodile that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new peirosaurid (Crocodyliformes, Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. - Ameghiniana 53(1):14-25. - F. Barrios, A. Paulina-Carabajal & P. Bona - 2015.
In Depth Hudsonelpidia is a little known ichthyosaur from the Late Triassic. Like with its relatives, Hudsonelpidia was probably a hunter of fish and other small marine organisms. Further Reading Further reading- A remarkable small ichthyosaur from the Upper Triassic of British Columbia, representing a new genus and species. – Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. … Read more
In Depth Zhanghenglong was described at the time of its description as a non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid, which translated into simpler terms is a primitive hadrosaur. Hadrosauroids like Zhanghenglong were descended from the older iguanodont ornithopods that rose to prominence during late Jurassic and early Cretaceous. By the earlier stages of the late cretaceous that had evolved … Read more
In Depth Opisthocoelicaudia is a bit of a mouthful to say but is based upon the structure of the caudal vertebrae. The vertebrae connect in a ball and socket fashion, and while the socket part is usually found to point forwards, it’s actually reversed to point backwards in Opisthocoelicaudia. Since this initial discovery however the … Read more
In Depth Zhenyuanlong is an interesting genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur. To start Zhenyuanlong has some of the proportionately shortest arms in relation to leg lengths of any dromaeosaurid, and at the time of the description of the genus in 2015, only Austroraptor and Mahakala are known to have been even more extreme. The radius bone … Read more
In Depth The rauisuchians were the top land predators of the Triassic, and remained so until the appearance of the large theropod dinosaurs. These rauisuchians are usually portrayed as long quadrupedal predators, and for the most part this is true. However there is a surprisingly little known group of bipedal rauisuchians called the poposaurids, of … Read more
In Depth Erliansaurus is a genus of primitive therizinosauroid from the late Cretaceous of Mongolia, and the fact that the holotype comes from around the late Campanian and early Maastrichtian is an indication that Erliansaurus was a late surviving form that managed to exist in Asia at a time when other more advanced therizinosaurs were … Read more
In Depth Garjainia is a close relative of the more famous Erythrosuchus, and like that genus, Garjainia also had what appeared to be an oversized head. This head, filled with numerous sharp teeth would have been the primary killing weapon against the herbivorous animals of the time. Further Reading - A New Species of Garjainia … Read more
In Depth Sebecus is a genus of notosuchian crocodylomorph that is known to have lived in South America during the earliest part of the Eocene. Sebecus would have been predators of other similarly sized animals, but unlike crocodiles that we know today, Sebecus would have been more terrestrial and hunting on the land. Details of … Read more