In Depth Rukwanyoka is an extinct genus of snake that lived in Africa during the Oligocene. Further Reading - The Earliest Colubroid-Dominated Snake Fauna from Africa: Perspectives from the Late Oligocene Nsungwe Formation of Southwestern Tanzania. - PLoS ONE 9(3):e90415. - J. A. McCartney, N. J. Stevens & P. M. O’Connor - 2014.
In Depth Initially through to represent a piece of the dinosaur Troodon in 1943, and later the genus Stegoceras, the single dome that makes up the holotype of this genus was named as Hanssuesia in 2003. This came about as a result of the work of R. M. Sullivan in the Stegoceras genus when he … Read more
In Depth Pachygenys is a genus of skink that lived in Asia during the early Cretaceous. Pachygenys thlastesa, the type species is known from China, while Pachygenys adachii is known from Japan. Further Reading - A new lizard from the Lower Cretaceous of Shandong, China. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19:456-465. - K. Gao & … Read more
In Depth Originally described as a species of Steneosaurus, Plagiophthalmosuchus was a genus of marine crocodile that lived in the waters of Europe during the Jurassic. Further reading - The phylogenetics of Teleosauroidea (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) and implications for their ecology and evolution. - PeerJ. 8: e9808. - Michela M. Johnson, Mark T. Young & Stephen … Read more
In Depth The level of preservation in the holotype individual of Borealopelta is exceptional to say the least. Somehow this land dwelling dinosaur ended up in being preserved in marine sediment, possible suggesting that this individual may have been washed out to sea, perhaps in some sort of flood or land slide. It is probable … Read more
In Depth Teyujagua is a genus of archosauromorph reptile that lived in Brazil during the Triassic. Further Reading - An exceptional fossil skull from South America and the origins of the archosauriform radiation. - Scientific Reports. 6. - Felipe L. Pinheiro, Marco A. G. Fran�a, Marcel B. Lacerda, Richard J. Butler & Cesar L. Schultz … Read more
In Depth Yunyangosaurus is a genus of predatory theropod dinosaur that lived in China during the Mid Jurassic. Further Reading - A new possible megalosauroid theropod from the Middle Jurassic Xintiangou Formation of Chongqing, People’s Republic of China and its implication for early tetanuran evolution. - Scientific Reports. 10: Article number 139. - Hui Dai, … Read more
In Depth Orginally described as a species of Chanaresuchus, C. ischigualastensis was elevated to a genus level in 2014 and became Pseudochampsa. Pseudochampsa is a genus of proterochampsian archosauromorph, and would have been a relatively small predator mostly hunting smaller animals. Further Reading – A new proterochampsid Chanaresuchus ischigualastensis (Diapsida, Archosauriformes) in the early Late … Read more
In Depth Bogolubovia did not come into existence until seventy-five years after the holotype was discovered in 1914 by Nikolai Nikolaevich Bogolubov. Initially the remains were attributed to Ornithostoma as O. orientalis, and later reclassified as a species of Pteranodon. Now the original description can be compared with greater understanding of pterosaurs in general, Bogolubovia … Read more
In Depth Paleorhinus has been one of the key phytosaur genera for well over a hundred years now, however many of the species once assigned to the genus have now been re-assigned to other genera. At the time of writing the only recognised species of Paleorhinus are the type species P. bransoni from the USA, … Read more