Polyacrodus was a genus of prehistoric shark, composed of several species, with fossils found in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The name Polyacrodus means “tooth with many bumps”, and it was officially named by the German paleontologist… Read More ›

Middle Cretaceous
The Cedar Mountain Allosaur
The Cedar Mountain Formation is a geological formation located in the western United States, mostly within the state of Utah, with rocks dating to the early and middle parts of the Cretaceous Period. The Cedar Mountain Formation is most well-known… Read More ›
Nedcolbertia: A North American elaphrosaur?
IntroductionNedcolbertia (named in honor of the American paleontologist Dr. Edward “Ned” Colbert, 1905-2001) was a mysterious and intriguing creature which inhabited western North America during the early Cretaceous Period about 140-130 million years ago. When it was officially named and… Read More ›
An Ornithocheirid Pterosaur
An ornithocheirid pterosaur. © Jason R. Abdale (February 13, 2022). The “ornithocheirids” were a group of pterosaurs which dominated the skies during the early and middle parts of the Cretaceous Period from about 140 to 90 million years ago. They… Read More ›
The Lives of Raptor Dinosaurs: A Series of Mistaken Preconceptions
Introduction If you were to approach most people who possess a familiarity with paleontology, and ask them about what they know about raptor dinosaurs and how they lived their lives, these people would almost certainly tell you the following four… Read More ›
Zephyrosaurus
Zephyrosaurus was a small ornithopod dinosaur which lived in Montana during the middle Cretaceous Period. The first fossils of this animal were discovered by Charles R. Schaff, who worked at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. Schaff was prospecting for… Read More ›
Deinonychus: The Dinosaur that Changed the World
The skull of Deinonychus. This is the very first thing that appears on-screen in the first episode of the 1992 PBS documentary series The Dinosaurs! It’s a great series, by the way. You should watch it. Right now. Seriously. Get… Read More ›
Microvenator
In North America, dinosaur fossils are found in profusion in rocks dated to the late Triassic, late Jurassic, and late Cretaceous Periods. However, much of the rest of the Mesozoic Era’s time scale contains much sparser remains. The middle part… Read More ›
The Big Muddy: The Mowry Sea of the Early Cretaceous Period
Today the broad expanse of the Great Plains, which forms the central part of North America, is a vast area of farms, prairies, and deserts. Here, immense herds of buffalo once roamed and wild mustangs galloped. However, the land did… Read More ›
Astrodon
If you were to ask people if they know a good place to find dinosaur bones, many of them would say “Go west, young man!” There is a lot of truth to this. There are vast areas of western North… Read More ›