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 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 Camelotia was a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in England during the Late Triassic. However the rear limb is also similar to early sauropods, something which has seen the Camelotia genus tentatively assigned to the Melanorosauridae (type genus Melanorosaurus). The name Camelotia was derived from the name Camelot, the castle that was … Read more
In Depth The full type species name for this dinosaur is Lepidus praecisio which means ‘fascinating fragment’. This is because while not many fossils of this dinosaur are known, we can observe that the astragalus (talos) and calcaneum are fused into one, which is a trait of neotheropod dinosaurs. At the same time however, the … Read more
In Depth Juravenator was a small predatory dinosaur active in the late Jurassic of Europe. It appears to have been a fleet footed hunter that specialised in either invertebrates or small vertebrates like lizards. The scleral rings of Juravenator show similarities with nocturnal birds strongly suggesting that Juravenator was most active at night. The holotype … Read more
In Depth Xingxiulong is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in China during the early Jurassic. The robust nature of the fossils bones strongly suggest that Xingxiulong would have been heavily built in life, though likely still would have been bipedal. Further Reading - A new basal sauropodiform dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of … Read more
In Depth Jinbeisaurus is a genus of tyrannosaur that lived in China during the Late Cretaceous, and is the first dinosaur of its kind discovered in Shanxi Province. Fossils of Jinbeisaurus are very partially preserved meaning it is hard to be certain about too much detail about this dinosaur. The size of the fossils of … Read more
In Depth Ohmdenosaurus is a little known genus of sauropod, and perhaps not surprisingly known by very little remains. These remains have in the past been attributed to the Vulcanodontidae group of sauropods, though this group has also been problematic in its classification in the past, in fact for a time the group fell into … Read more
In Depth Dating back around one-hundred and fifty-two million years ago, Stokesosaurus is one of the earliest representatives of the tyrannosaur lineage, being only slightly later than Guanlong. At up to four meters long, Stokesosaurus resembled the juvenile forms of later tyrannosarids, and was a fleet footed predator relying upon speed to catch prey. Stokesosaurus … Read more