In Depth Teleosaurus is commonly referred to as a prehistoric gharial (sometimes gavial) because of its long but very thin jaws that are lined with lots of small thin teeth. These jaws are perfect for snatching fish from the water as their thin form experiences reduced resistance from opening and closing while moving through the … Read more
In Depth Not a lot can be said about Pawpawsaurus because so far it is only known by a skull. However, another nodosaur from the Paw Paw Formation is Texasetes (which includes post cranial remains), which has been suggested as being a synonym to Pawpawsaurus. If this is true, then the current Pawpawsaurus fossil material, … Read more
In Depth From the outset the name Cryptoclidus does not sound all that special, but when you translate it to English to mean ‘hidden collarbone’ it raises a few eyebrows. The genus name is actually in reference to the very small clavicle that is buried within the shoulder girdle that controls the front limbs, or … Read more
In Depth Itasuchus is a genus of extinct notosuchian from the late Cretaceous of Brazil. Itasuchus is considered to have been similar to Barreirosuchus which is from slightly earlier during the late Cretaceous, and Caririsuchus which is known from the late early Cretaceous. All three of these genera are known from Brazil. Further Reading - … Read more
In Depth Barsboldia is so far only known from vertebrae and some fragmentary remains of other parts of the post cranial skeleton. At the time of writing no skull is known for the genus, yet the original describers still chose to class Barsboldia as a lambeosaurine hadrosaurid dinosaur. Later studies however have cast doubts about … Read more
In Depth Cathayornis is a genus of enantiornithine bird that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. While the type species of Cathayornis, C. yandica is valid, two further species C. aberransis and C. chabuensis have also been named but are questionable as they consist of partial body parts that are not preserved in with … Read more
In Depth Eudimorphodon represents one of the earliest known pterosaurs, and already features that include a possibly vaned tail like that seen in Rhamphorhynchus can be clearly seen to be established. However the tail seems to lack stiffening tendons that can be seen in the rhamphorhynchoid group, and may have been of little use in … Read more
In Depth The holotype fossil of a partial jaw of Regnosaurus was recovered by Gideon Mantell who considered it to belong to an unknown large prehistoric animal. Mantell would later name his animal Igaunodon, though it was still referred to as a big lizard since the word dinosaur had still not been invented. Mantell realised … Read more
In Depth Discovered in the increasingly famous Hațeg basin of Romania, Paludititan was a genus of titanosaurian dinosaur that lived in Eastern Europe towards the end of the Cretaceous period. Paludititan is not the first titanosaur to be named from this part of the world, the dwarf titanosaur Magyarosaurus was named earlier and seems to … Read more
In Depth Named in reference to the more famous Triceratops, Eotriceratops was a large ceratopsian dinosaur of the late Cretaceous. At three meters long from the snout to the tip of the neck frill, the skull of Eotriceratops is also immense. The skull at the base of the left brow horn has bite marks which … Read more