In Depth Aviatyrannis was for lack of a better word tiny, although this small size is actually a hallmark of tyrannosaur ancestry. Although incomplete, the fossil remains of Aviatyrannis are very similar to another ancient tyrannosaur, Stokesosaurus, from North America. This has resulted in speculation that Aviatyrannis is actually a junior synonym of Stokesosaurus, and … Read more
In Depth A passing glance at the dinosaur Bajadasaurus would likely bring immediate comparisons to another very popular sauropod dinosaur known as Amargasaurus. Amargasaurus made headlines when it was named because of the large spines that rose out and back from the neck, at the time making it unique amongst sauropod dinosaurs. The discovery of … Read more
In Depth Aepyornithomimus is a genus of ornithomimosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the late Cretaceous. Analysis of the foot of Aepyornithomimus shows an intermediate development between primitive and advanced ornithomimosaurs. Further Reading - First Ornithomimid (Theropoda, Ornithomimosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation of T�gr�giin Shiree, Mongolia. - Scientific Reports. 7: Article number … Read more
In Depth Though only named from a leg and foot, Velocisaurus seems to have been a particularly fast running dinosaur given that the leg shows clear adaptations for running, hence the name which means ‘swift lizard’. When the dinosaur Velocisaurus was first described by Jos� Bonaparte in 1991 he speculated that Velocisaurus might have been … Read more
In Depth Liaoningotitan is a genus of titanisauriform sauropod dinosaur that lived in Asia during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new Titanosauriformes dinosaur from Jehol Biota of western Liaoning, China. - Global Geology. 37 (2): 327–333. - C.-F. Zhou, W.–H. Wu, T. Sekiya & Z.-M. Dong - 2018.
In Depth Saturnalia is today considered to be a sauropodomorph, albeit a very primitive one at that. The fossil record concerning the evolution of dinosaurs is still very incomplete and quite possibly will never be known as a whole, but as soon as dinosaurs appeared in the Triassic period it seems that it was only … Read more
In Depth Giraffatitan was originally named as an African species of Brachiosaurus. First named in 1914 by Werner Janensch as Brachiosaurus brancai, subsequent study of the fossil material would reveal several morphological differences between B. brancai and the Brachiosaurus type species B. altithorax. This has led to the modern name of Giraffatitan, a play on … Read more
In Depth about Tyrannotitan With a name like Tyrannotitan you could be forgiven for thinking that this huge theropod was a tyrannosaurid, but in fact it was a carcharodontosaurid Giganotosaurus and Mapusaurus, both also from South America. Tyrannotitan seems to differ from other discovered carcharodontosaurids in that it has proportionately tiny forearms, something that is similar to the tyrannosaurids. Palaeontologists are confident … Read more
In Depth Achillesaurus has been identified as a basal alvarezsaur that lived in Argentina during the late Cretaceous, but there is now some question to its validity. Achillesaurus was thought to have lived alongside the type genus of the alvarezsauridae, Alvarezsaurus. A 2012 study by Makovicky et al. however has raised the notion that Achillesaurus … Read more
In Depth Eustreptospondylus was first described in 1841, but the original fossil material has since been lost. A second set of remains was discovered in 1964 and is surmised to be Eustreptospondylus based upon the description of the original material. The new material features vertebra that are lacking development of the upper parts, indicating that … Read more