In Depth Although only a little dinosaur, the taxonomic history of Coelurus can be confusing to say the least. The first small theropod dinosaur from the famous Morrison Formation to be named, in the past the genus Coelurus has crossed paths with other small Morrison formation theropods such as Ornitholestes and Tanycolagreus. In addition to … Read more
In Depth Machairasaurus is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in China during the late Cretaceous. Machairasaurus was so named from the claws on its fingers which are curved like scimitar swords. It is speculated that these claws may have allowed Machairasaurus to pull and manipulate plant branches or possibly even dig out roots. … Read more
In Depth Europatitan was a very large somphospondylan sauropod dinosaur that lived in Spain during the early Cretaceous. The type species name E. eastwoodi was inspired by the actor Clint Eastwood. Further Reading - Europatitan eastwoodi, a new sauropod from the lower Cretaceous of Iberia in the initial radiation of somphospondylans in Laurasia. - PeerJ … Read more
In Depth Raptorex is a very dubious genus of tyrannosaur that many consider to be a juvenile Tarbosaurus. When Raptorex was first revealed to the world the holotype had already been dug out of the ground and shipped to Japan where it was purchased by an American businessman. Back then the fossil was being identified … Read more
In Depth Eoraptor stands out not only for being one of the first dinosaurs to ever walk the Earth, but because palaeontologists cannot conclusively agree on where to place it in relation to other dinosaurs. Initially Eoraptor was classed as a theropod because of its bipedal stance and narrow build, but the sauropodomorphs (which would … Read more
In Depth Latenivenatrix has a somewhat convoluted history of discovery. The holotype specimen of the genus (CMN 12340) was originally designated as being a Stenonychosaurus by Dale A. Russel in 1969. Then in 1987 it was moved into the Troodon genus, the type genus of the troodontid dinosaurs. It was not until much later in … Read more
In Depth Unfortunately at the time of the genus description the only fossils of Austroposeidon that we have are some vertebrae. However, comparison to other similar dinosaurs has led to realistic size estimates for this dinosaur of about twenty-five metres in length. Although not the biggest dinosaur, this does make Austroposeidon at the time of … Read more
In Depth Massospondylus was one amongst the first dinosaurs to be named with a taxonomic history going back as far as the mid nineteenth century. Yet when Richard Owen described the first fossils, he thought that he was dealing with an ancient ancestor to more familiar lizards such as iguanas chameleons. In actuality Massospondylus represents … Read more
In Depth In 2006 the palaeontologists M. Sadiq Malkani managed to name five titanosaurs from the Pab Formation of Pakistan, all described from caudal (tail) vertebrae. Malkani also named two new families of titanosaurs, the Pakisauridae and the Balochisauridae as homes for the new titanosaurs. Balochisaurus as you may have guessed is the type genus … Read more
In Depth With greatly elongated fingers the hands are a tantalising find for palaeontologists, but without the rest of the skeleton it is impossible to give an accurate insight into this creature’s life. One possible explanation is that Yixianosaurus lived like a modern day aye-aye. Aye-aye’s also have hands that have impressively long fingers which … Read more