In Depth Hesperornithoides is a genus of troodontid dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Jurassic. Further reading - A new paravian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America supports a late acquisition of avian flight. - PeerJ 7:e7247. - S. Hartman, M. Mortimer, W. R. Wahl, D. R. Lomax, J. Lippincott … Read more
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 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 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 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
In Depth Thanos is a genus of abelisaurid dinosaur that lived in South America during the Cretaceous. If the name is familiar, that is because this dinosaur is named after the character that appears in the Marvel comics universe. Further Reading - New record of abelisauroid theropods from the Bauru Group (Upper Cretaceous), S�o Paulo … Read more
In Depth Bannykus is a genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the early Cretaceous. The overall lack of fossil remains at the time of its description makes it hard to ascertain details about Bannykus, though the size of the leg bones alone suggest that Bannykus was among the larger known alvarezsaurs. Further … Read more
In Depth Yet another oviraptosaur from the late Cretaceous of Asia, the partial remains of Luoyanggia make it hard to establish an accurate size for the genus, though it is noted to be towards the smaller end of the oviraptosaur size spectrum. Luoyanggia is usually placed within the Oviraptoridae, the same assignment as the original … Read more