In Depth Although not very well known, Tianyuraptor is important to many palaeontologists because it is often regarded as a transitional form that links northern and southern genera of dromaeosaurids. Tianyuraptor is noted for having a smaller than usual furcula and arms that are proportionately much smaller than those of other dromaeosaurid genera. Overall, Tianyuraptor … Read more
In Depth Kryptops is a little known genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in North Africa during the Early Cretaceous. At the time of the original description in 2008, Kryptops was considered to be the most primitive known abelisaurid. Kryptops was described from a partial maxilla (main and posterior tooth bearing bone in the … Read more
In Depth Bagualosaurus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Triassic. Bagualosaurus seems to have been somewhat transitional in form in that the skull and tooth arrangement are like those of later sauropodomorph dinosaurs such as Plateosaurus and Efraasia, yet the main body of Bagualosaurus is more theropod-like, … Read more
In Depth Fossils of Australodocus were first recovered in 1909 by the famous German palaeontologist Werner Janensch, however they were not described until 2007. Further to this, not all of the original specimens could be studied since many of them were destroyed in World War 2. Out of the surviving bones, some of the vertebrae … Read more
In Depth Caudipteryx the animal. Caudipteryx is one of the most primitive oviraptosaurs so far known to us, only the genus Incisivosaurus is known to be older at the time of writing. The skull of Caudipteryx can be easily described as being box-like, and the jaws are already formed into a beak. Teeth are still … Read more
In Depth Neuquenraptor was very nearly the first dromaeosaurid dinosaur to be discovered on the South American continent. First discovered in 1996, the holotype specimen was unofficially named Araucanoraptor argentinus in 1997. Also in 1997 another dromaeosaurid genus named Unenlagia was named from the same formation, and because this genus had a proper description, Unenlagia … Read more
In Depth Lusovenator is a genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in Europe during the late Jurassic. The known fossils of Lusovenator suggest a size of a little of three meters, though they also indicate that these fossils belonged to a juvenile and was therefore not fully grown. The full grown size of Lusovenator … Read more
In Depth When Appalachiosaurus was first discovered it raised more than a few eyebrows because it was discovered in the Eastern United States. Up until that point only one other genus of tyrannosaur named Dryptosaurus had been found in the eastern half of the USA. The one specimen of Appalachiosaurus appears to have been a … Read more
In Depth Tanycolagreus has been dubbed a run of the mill kind of Jurassic predator. Small and lightweight, Tanycolagreus probably focused its attentions on hunting smaller dinosaurs that were too difficult for larger predators to live on. However the holotype specimen is of a three meter subadult, with further referred material indicating a size approaching … Read more
In Depth Almas is a genus of troodontid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading Osteology of a New Late Cretaceous Troodontid Specimen from Ukhaa Tolgod, �mn�govi Aimag, Mongolia. - American Museum Novitates. 3889: 1–47. - Rui Pei, Mark A. Norell, Daniel E. Barta, G. S. Bever, Michael Pittman & Xing … Read more