Todiltia schoewei was a small prehistoric saltwater fish which lived in North America during the middle Jurassic Period 165 million years ago. Fossils of this fish have been found in Colorado and New Mexico within the Todilto Limestone Member of… Read More ›
Jurassic Period
Occithrissops
Occithrissops willsoni was an 8 inch (20 cm) long saltwater fish which lived within the Sundance Sea during the middle Jurassic Period 165 million years ago. During the middle of the Jurassic Period, much of the center of North America… Read More ›
Marshosaurus: The Mysterious Meat-Eating Dinosaur of the Morrison Formation
Introduction The Morrison Formation of western North America is one of the most well-studied geological formations within the world. These rock layers, which extend from Montana to New Mexico and from Utah to South Dakota, are dated to the late… Read More ›
The Colymbosaurus-Kimmerosaurus Controversy
Introduction For paleontologists, determining whether fossils belong to an animal which is already known or if they belong to a hitherto undiscovered species can be a bit tricky, especially if the animal is only known from incomplete remains. Suppose you… Read More ›
Plesiosuchus
Plesiosuchus was a 20 foot long marine crocodylomorph which lived in the tropical sea which once covered Europe during the late Jurassic Period 155-150 million years ago. In the 1860s, fragmentary fossils were discovered in Dorset, England by a local… Read More ›
Ornitholestes
Ornitholestes, “the bird thief”, was a small meat-eating dinosaur which lived in western North America during the late Jurassic Period about 154 million years ago. Since its discovery in the year 1900, Ornitholestes has come to be regarded as the… Read More ›
Caypullisaurus
Caypullisaurus was a 20 foot long ichthyosaur which lived off the coast of Argentina (and possibly elsewhere) during the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous Periods 150-140 million years ago. In 1989, the front half of a skeleton of a medium-sized… Read More ›
Muraenosaurus
Muraenosaurus, “the moray eel lizard”, was a medium-sized plesiosaur which lived in the sea which once covered southern England and northern France during the middle of the Jurassic Period 165-164 million years ago. In the 19th Century, a partial skeleton… Read More ›
Kayentatherium
Kayentatherium, “the beast from the Kayenta Formation”, was a cynodont (one of a group of mammal ancestors which are sometimes called “mammal-like reptiles”) which lived in Arizona during the early Jurassic Period approximately 185-180 million years ago. Kanyentatherium was big,… Read More ›
Hauffiosaurus
Hauffiosaurus was a genus of plesiosaur which lived around England and Germany during the early Jurassic Period. There are currently three known species: H. zanoni, H. tomistomimus, and H. longirostris. Of these, Hauffiosaurus longirostris was the largest, measuring almost 16… Read More ›