Ceratosaurus is an iconic dinosaur due to numerous physical attributes that distinguish it from other theropod species: the horn on the end of its nose, the massive teeth, the tiny hands with the four fingers, the wide tail, etc. However,… Read More ›
Late Jurassic
Haplocanthosaurus: An Enigmatic Sauropod from the Late Jurassic Period
Introduction The sauropods are the definitive image of the dinosaur. Almost always, whenever one hears the word “dinosaur”, the image of the long-necked long-tailed four-legged behemoth is what immediately springs to mind. The sauropods were the dominant land herbivores during… Read More ›
Hybodus, the iconic shark of the dinosaur age
Many people, usually un-informed talking heads that appear on populist nature documentaries who want to make claims that will grab your attention, will say that sharks have remained unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs. It’s wrong. The Mesozoic Era,… Read More ›
Othnielia
Othnielia rex was a small ornithopod dinosaur found in the Morrison Formation, a famous geological formation spanning a large chunk of the western United States which is dated to the late Jurassic Period, 157-147 million years ago. It is here… Read More ›
Morrolepis
Note: This article was originally published on August 31, 2019. It has since been substantially updated and re-published on September 19, 2024. The Morrison Formation of the western United States is one of the most famous deposits of late Jurassic… Read More ›
Harpactognathus
Harpactognathus was a rhamphorhynchid pterosaur which lived in the Morrison Formation of western North America during the late Jurassic Period. In 1996, the front of a pterosaur’s upper jaw was discovered at Bone Cabin Quarry, a famous fossil site in… Read More ›
Liopleurodon
The middle to late 19th Century can arguably be seen as the glory days of paleontology. While this time frame is often associated with the discovery of dinosaurs and the so-called “Bone Wars” of the American West, discoveries were also… Read More ›
Coelurus
This is a little-known theropod from the Morrison Formation named Coelurus. You don’t see Coelurus very often in Jurassic paleo-art, but I think it’s an interesting creature. It had a much thinner build than its Morrison coelurosaurid counterpart, Ornitholestes, and… Read More ›
Ornitholestes with feathers
Greetings all. Every child with a rough grasp of what life was like in Late Jurassic North America probably knows the Morrison Formation’s main characters. If such a child were to be asked to name the meat-eaters from that formation,… Read More ›
Torvosaurus: The Grizzly Bear of the Jurassic
NOTE: The original article concerning Torvosaurus was published on August 8, 2015. It was completely overhauled and re-published on December 9, 2020, with more information and new artwork. Introduction The Morrison Formation of western North America, dated to the late… Read More ›