In Depth Othnielosaurus is a genus of small ornithopod dinosaur that seems to have been widespread across Central North America during the late Jurassic. Othnielosaurus would have been a bipedal dinosaur relying more upon speed and agility to stay out of the mouths of predatory dinosaurs. Othnielosaurus like other ornithopods were herbivorous dinosaurs that would … Read more
In Depth The holotype specimen of Callovosaurus, an almost complete femur, was first described as a species of Camptosaurus all the way back in 1889 by Richard Lydekker. By 1909 doubts were already being cast as to whether or not this bone actually came from an iguanodontid dinosaur. In 1980 Peter M. Galton took this … Read more
In Depth Even though the name Eocarcharia means ‘dawn shark’, it was actually a theropod dinosaur. This name came about from the serrated slicing teeth that are thought to have sliced through flesh as easily as a shark. The dawn part is a reference to its early appearance to some other related genera. Although only … Read more
In Depth Pyrenasaurus is a little known lizard genus that lived in Western Europe during the Eocene. Further Reading - A New Miniaturized Lizard from the Late Eocene of France and Spain. - The Anatomical Record 297 (3): 505–15. - A. Bolet & M. Aug� - 2014.
In Depth Selmasaurus is unusual amongst mosasaurs because it has an akinetic skull, which means that its jaws were incapable of widening to swallow larger prey. This strongly suggests that Selmasaurus restricted itself to small prey species that were easily swallowed. This would infer behaviour similar to other plioplatecarpine mosasaurs such as Platecarpus and Plioplatecarpus … Read more
In Depth Nhandumirim is a genus of saurischian dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Triassic. Nhandumirim has been interpreted both as a theropod dinosaur by some and a sauropodomorph by others. Unfortunately the lack of fossil preservation of the holotype individual makes it hard to be certain which. Further Reading - A … Read more
In Depth Liaoningosaurus is named after the Liaoning Province of China, which is where the holotype remains were found. The species name L. paradoxus came about from the mix of nodosaur and ankylosaur features in the specimen. In fact the original classification of Liaoningosaurus was that of a nodosaurid, but today it is actually regarded … Read more
In Depth Ceratosaurus has been known to science since towards the end of the nineteenth century, and thanks to its head ornamentation, has long been one of the most popular. Early on, Othniel Charles Marsh considered the blade like nasal horn to have been a weapon against other dinosaurs, but this is no longer considered … Read more
In Depth Proceratosaurus was a small predatory theropod dinosaur active in what would become southern England during the mid-Jurassic. Arthur Smith Woodward first described the partial skull of Proceratosaurus as another species of Megalosaurus, a genus that suffered from the wastebasket taxon effect of almost any predatory dinosaur fossil being attributed to it. Friedrich von … Read more
In Depth Stegoceras is one of the more common and better known pachycephalosaurs, and one that seems to have had a range that extended from South west/central Canada to the south western states of the USA. The genus however seems to have been quite a bit smaller than its more famous relative Pachycephalosaurus. Like with … Read more