Animal evolution across changing worlds

Explore the collection

• The Closest Relatives of Dinosaurs

  Birds are living dinosaurs; crocodilians are their closest living relatives outside Dinosauria. See where pterosaurs, lizards and early archosaurs fit.

• Acleistorhinus

  Acleistorhinus pteroticus explained from its single skull: temporal opening, teeth, parareptile relationships, likely feeding and reconstruction limits.

• Anthodon

  Anthodon serrarius explained through Karoo skulls, serrated teeth, osteoderms, bone histology, dwarfing and its historical mix-up with a dinosaur.

• Arganaceras

  Arganaceras vacanti explained from its distorted Moroccan skull: cheek bosses, serrated teeth, uncertain body, age, relationships and environment.

• Arizonasaurus

  Arizonasaurus babbitti from the Moenkopi Formation: its type jaw, later skeleton, tall neural spines, age and place among pseudosuchians.

• Batrachotomus kupferzellensis

  Batrachotomus kupferzellensis from southern Germany: its near-complete skeleton, serrated teeth, osteoderms, braincase and bite traces on Mastodonsaurus bones.

• Beesiiwo cooowuse

  Beesiiwo cooowuse from Wyoming: four jaw specimens, tooth-plate anatomy, its Arapaho name and what fragmentary fossils can reveal about a rhynchosaur.

• Bentonyx sidensis

  Bentonyx sidensis from Devon: its near-complete skull, changing species assignment, CT scans, growing tooth plates and uncertain body size.

• Bradysaurus baini

  Bradysaurus baini from South Africa: Karoo fossils, a near-complete skeleton, herbivorous teeth, bone histology and the modern synonymy of B. seeleyi.

• Brasinorhynchus mariantensis

  Brasinorhynchus mariantensis from the Santa Maria Formation: two type specimens, a complete skull, tooth-bearing jaws and its position among Triassic rhynchosaurs.

• Champsosaurus

  Champsosaurus in North America: its species, aquatic skull and sensory anatomy, fossil skin impressions and survival across the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary.

• Coeruleodraco jurassicus

  Coeruleodraco jurassicus from China's Tiaojishan Formation: the articulated skeleton, primitive skull openings, aquatic setting and limits of its family tree.

• Colobomycter pholeter

  Colobomycter pholeter from Richards Spur: its fragmentary skull, enlarged front teeth, plicidentine seen in CT and thin sections, and disputed feeding inferences.

• Ctenosauriscus koeneni

  Ctenosauriscus koeneni from Germany: the history of its two-plated holotype, elongated vertebral spines, Late Olenekian age and uncertain body reconstruction.

• Delorhynchus

  Delorhynchus from Richards Spur: the associated skull and shoulder skeleton, neutron tomography, age-related skull changes and the limits of its species record.

• Deltavjatia rossica

  Deltavjatia from the Kotel'nich locality: its distinctive skull, changing proportions, bone histology, dermal armour and what the Upper Permian fossils cannot show.

• Desmatosuchus

  Desmatosuchus spurensis was a large Late Triassic aetosaur from North America. Its osteoderm armour and long shoulder spikes are directly preserved, while diet, spike function and species limits remain evidence-based interpretations.

• Effigia okeeffeae

  Effigia okeeffeae from Ghost Ranch: the AMNH skeleton, toothless jaws, bipedal anatomy, convergence with ornithomimids and competing ideas about diet.

• Elginia mirabilis

  Elginia from Scotland and China: the Cutties Hillock skulls, dissolved sandstone fossils, cranial horns, a partial skeleton and the limits of species comparison.

• Embrithosaurus schwarzi

  Embrithosaurus schwarzi from South Africa's Karoo Basin: its type skull, nine-cusped teeth, revised Bradysauria placement, growth evidence and limits of dietary reconstruction.

• Emeroleter levis

  Emeroleter levis from Kotel'nich: the type skull, articulated skeletons, gracile limbs, CT-based cranial anatomy and changing views of nycteroleter relationships.

• Feeserpeton oklahomensis

  The early Permian Feeserpeton from Richards Spur: its only skull, unusual teeth, CT anatomy and the limits of reconstructing a parareptile from a single specimen.

• Howesia browni

  Howesia browni from South Africa: new skulls, micro-CT evidence, its synonymy with Eohyosaurus, early beak and tooth plates, and uncertain feeding details.

• Hyphalosaurus

  Hyphalosaurus from Early Cretaceous Liaoning: two species, fossil skin, embryos and eggs, and the evidence behind changing ideas about reproduction.

• Ikechosaurus

  Ikechosaurus from China and Inner Mongolia: named species, articulated skeletons, a toothed long snout and a choristodere embryo preserved inside an egg.

• Isalorhynchus genovefae

  Isalorhynchus genovefae from Madagascar: its type jaw, later finds, tooth-plate anatomy, Carnian setting and the debate over Hyperodapedon.

• Khurendukhosaurus

  Khurendukhosaurus from Mongolia and Transbaikalia: new postcranial finds, long-necked proportions, uncertain species boundaries and the limits of its reconstruction.

• Langeronyx brodiei

  Langeronyx brodiei from Warwickshire: the partial skull split between two museums, its tooth plates, original name and revised rhynchosaur relationships.

• Lanthanosuchus watsoni

  Lanthanosuchus watsoni from Isheevo: Efremov's type skull, sculptured roof and palate, fragmentary postcranial remains and changing classification.

• Lazarussuchus

  Lazarussuchus from Paleocene to Miocene Europe: the French type skeleton, later Czech and German records, small-bodied anatomy and gaps in its fossil history.

• Lotosaurus adentus

  Lotosaurus adentus from Hunan, China: toothless jaws, tall neural spines, poposauroid relationships, a multi-individual bonebed and revised geological age.

• Macroleter poezicus

  Macroleter poezicus from the Mezen Basin: its articulated type skeleton, later skull discoveries, temporal opening, palatal denticles and debated relationships.

• Monjurosuchus splendens

  Monjurosuchus splendens from Early Cretaceous Liaoning preserves webbed feet, skin impressions and possible arthropod gut contents in near-complete skeletons.

• Nanoparia luckhoffi

  The Nanoparia luckhoffi holotype from South Africa is juvenile; new preparation revealed seven diagnostic skull traits and a revised phylogenetic position.

• Nochelesaurus alexanderi

  Nochelesaurus alexanderi from South Africa is distinguished by a broad postparietal bone and a detailed combination of skull and tooth characters.

• Noteosuchus colletti

  Noteosuchus colletti is known from one partial postcranial skeleton from the earliest Triassic of South Africa, leaving its skull and teeth unknown.

• Ornithosuchus

  Ornithosuchus woodwardi is known from natural moulds in Lossiemouth sandstone. Fossil preparation and CT refined its anatomy and helped reject the old bipedal reconstruction and the name O. longidens.

• Oryctorhynchus bairdi

  Oryctorhynchus bairdi is a Late Triassic rhynchosaur from Nova Scotia diagnosed chiefly from disarticulated skull and jaw material.

• Philydrosaurus proseilus

  Philydrosaurus proseilus is an Early Cretaceous choristodere from China with a broad short skull, multiple growth stages and a famous adult–juvenile association.

• Poposaurus

  Poposaurus gracilis from the Late Triassic of North America: its Wyoming holotype, later Utah and Arizona skeletons, bipedal anatomy, serrated teeth and crocodile-line relationships.

• Pumiliopareia pricei

  Pumiliopareia pricei from South Africa: its original Nanoparia name, skull and osteoderms, small specimens and evidence that some may be juveniles.

• Riojasuchus tenuisceps

  Riojasuchus tenuisceps from the Los Colorados Formation: four known individuals, a downturned snout, armour, CT-based braincase anatomy and dietary uncertainty.

• Shihtienfenia permica

  Shihtienfenia permica from China's Sunjiagou Formation: postcranial type fossils, six sacral vertebrae, uncertain size and synonymised Chinese names.

• Simoedosaurus lemoinei

  Simoedosaurus lemoinei: its French type record, broad skull, jaw and palate teeth, North American fossils and uncertain prey.

• Stenaulorhynchus stockleyi

  Stenaulorhynchus stockleyi from Tanzania: its fragmentary type, rhynchosaur tooth rows, Lifua fossils and what bone histology reveals about growth.

• Tchoiria namsarai

  Tchoiria namsarai from Mongolia: the PIN 3386/1 type, its partial skull and skeleton, tooth counts, aquatic adaptations and taxonomic context.

• Teyumbaita sulcognathus

  Teyumbaita sulcognathus from southern Brazil: its former name Scaphonyx, broad skulls, grooved maxillary tooth plates and CT evidence from the nasal cavity.

• Typothorax coccinarum

  Typothorax coccinarum from the Late Triassic American Southwest: its fragmentary type, articulated armour, complete skull, tooth evidence and conflicting maturity signals.

• Aletornis: a name built from scattered Eocene bones

  What the Bridger Formation fossils reveal about Aletornis, its Yale type specimen and the uncertain history of this Eocene bird genus.

• Amplibuteo: an oversized hawk with a revised name

  The Talara fossils, measurements and taxonomic revision behind the giant Pleistocene hawk once called Amplibuteo hibbardi.

• Aphanapteryx: the red rail of Mauritius

  Historical eyewitness accounts, paintings and subfossil skeletons reveal what is known about Aphanapteryx bonasia and its extinction.

• Aphanocrex: a large rail known only from bones

  Fossils from four parts of Saint Helena reveal a large flightless rail, while its diet, climbing ability and final extinction date remain uncertain.

• Australlus: two fossil rails from Riversleigh

  Australlus includes two fossil rail species from Riversleigh, Australia. Their remains are fragmentary, so flight capacity, habitat and feeding behaviour must be inferred cautiously.

• Belgirallus: a small fossil rail from Europe

  Belgian type fossils and a tentative German skeleton show what is known about Belgirallus, its two species, anatomy and uncertain place among rails.

• Bermuteo: the extinct hawk of Bermuda

  Seven fossil bones reveal a powerful-legged Bermuda hawk, while its exact prey, body size and possible survival into the human era remain uncertain.

• Berruornis: a Paleocene bird identified from its feet

  Tarsometatarsi from France and Germany underpin Berruornis; the evidence supports an early owl, while its family placement and unpreserved behaviour remain uncertain.

• Breagyps: the extinct condor known as Clark’s condor

  Bones from Rancho La Brea and other western localities document Breagyps clarki, its changing name, condor anatomy and the limits of claims about size and extinction.

• Chenoanas: a fossil duck from Miocene Eurasia

  Chenoanas is known from Miocene fossils in Mongolia and beyond. Compare its named species, changing range and the limits of its proposed relationships to living ducks.

• Colymboides: small fossil loons from ancient Europe

  Colymboides includes small fossil loons from the Eocene to Miocene of Europe. Compare the well-known C. minutus with fragmentary and disputed species assignments.

• Diaphorapteryx: a giant flightless rail of the Chatham Islands

  Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi fossils document a large flightless rail of the Chatham Islands; Moriori accounts and its extinction date require careful interpretation.

• Edentosuchus

  Edentosuchus tienshanensis is an Early Cretaceous crocodyliform from Xinjiang, China. New 2026 specimens and CT work add palate anatomy, while its unusual teeth and exact body proportions remain central questions.

• Fluvioviridavis: the wide-billed Eocene bird

  Fluvioviridavis includes Eocene birds from Wyoming and England. Its broad bill is clear, but its evolutionary position and feeding ecology remain disputed.

• Laurillardia: a tiny bird near the hoopoe lineage

  Laurillardia was a very small Paleogene bird once classified among songbirds. New Polish skeletons support a tentative placement near the stem of hoopoes and their relatives.

• Lophopsittacus: the broad-billed parrot of Mauritius

  Lophopsittacus mauritianus is known from Mauritian subfossil bones and early eyewitness images. Its anatomy, uncertain flight ability and extinction are reviewed.

• Madtsoia

  Madtsoia is a genus of large extinct snakes named from fossils in Argentina, Brazil, Madagascar and India. Vertebral anatomy is well documented, but the skull is unknown and the genus may not include one natural evolutionary group.

• Megalapteryx: New Zealand’s upland moa

  Megalapteryx didinus was a small moa of New Zealand’s South Island. Mummies, feathers and coprolites reveal its anatomy, broad diet and changing habitat.

• Megavitiornis: Fiji's giant flightless bird

  Fiji fossils reveal Megavitiornis's deep beak, reduced wings and place among Sylviornithidae, while its diet, mass and nesting remain uncertain.

• Mullerornis: Madagascar’s smaller elephant bird

  What bones, eggshell DNA and isotope chemistry reveal about Mullerornis, the comparatively slender elephant bird of Madagascar.

• Musturzabalsuchus

  Musturzabalsuchus buffetauti is known mainly from jaws at the Laño site in northern Spain. Its tooth rows are distinctive, but the missing skull and skeleton leave its relationships and body form less certain.

• Mycomorphoolithus

  Mycomorphoolithus kohringi is an egg fossil taxon recognised from microscopic shell structure. Its fragments likely came from a crocodylomorph egg, but they do not identify the parent species or preserve a complete nest.

• Nambashag: an early cormorant from Australia’s inland lakes

  Two Nambashag species are known from dozens of bones in South Australian lake deposits. Their anatomy supports an early cormorant relationship, while behaviour remains inferred.

• Necrobyas: a fossil owl known mostly from leg bones

  Necrobyas is known mainly from isolated leg bones in French and Belgian deposits. Revisions have changed its species list and its position among owls.

• Palaeopython

  Palaeopython is a Paleogene European snake genus revised from fragmentary vertebrae and rare skeletons. Several species are recognised, but historical names, uncertain localities and incomplete bodies complicate its record.

• Patagornis: the terror bird with a debated name

  Patagornis marshi was a running phorusrhacid from Miocene Patagonia. Near-complete skeletons clarify its anatomy, while speed and hunting behaviour remain model-based.

• Platydyptes: fossil penguins of Oligocene New Zealand

  Platydyptes was a late Oligocene penguin genus from Zealandia. Revised anatomical comparisons support three named species and a possible fourth, while one assignment remains doubtful.

• Procaimanoidea

  Procaimanoidea is an Eocene North American crocodilian genus based on fossils from Wyoming and Utah. Its two named species illuminate early alligatoroid diversity, although analyses do not agree on its exact relatives.

• Tatarornipes: bird tracks from Cretaceous Inner Mongolia

  Tatarornipes chabuensis is an ichnospecies named from footprints, not a bird skeleton. Its broad three-toed tracks record steps in wet sediment but leave the trackmaker's appearance unknown.

• Telmatornis: a fragmentary bird from Cretaceous New Jersey

  Telmatornis priscus is based on the end of a humerus from Maastrichtian New Jersey. Other wing and leg bones have been tentatively referred to it, leaving its body and exact relationships uncertain.

• Thambetochen: the flightless, tooth-billed moa-nalo

  Thambetochen was a large Hawaiian duck with bony projections along its bill and greatly reduced wings. Skeletal and coprolite evidence support flightlessness and herbivory, while exact body mass and diet remain uncertain.

• Uhangrichnus: webbed bird tracks from Cretaceous Korea

  Uhangrichnus chuni is an ichnotaxon named for webbed bird footprints from Korea. Track surfaces record toe contact and gait, but cannot identify the trackmaker as a modern bird family.

• Wonambi

  Wonambi naracoortensis was a large madtsoiid snake from southern Australia, known from vertebrae and increasingly informative cranial material. Its skull anatomy has prompted competing phylogenetic interpretations, while estimates near five to six metres remain reconstructions from incomplete skeletons.

• Yurlunggur

  Yurlunggur is a large Australian madtsoiid snake. Its named Miocene species is based on associated vertebrae from Bullock Creek, while separate Riversleigh fossils preserve much of a skull and support qualified ecological interpretations.

• Adriosaurus

  Adriosaurus explained from Slovenian Cretaceous skeletons: species, elongated body, uneven forelimb reduction, swimming and evolutionary significance.

• Aigialosaurus

  Aigialosaurus dalmaticus explained from its Hvar skeleton: revised pelvis, ordinary digit-bearing limbs, size and position near the base of Mosasauroidea.

• Araeoscelis

  Araeoscelis explained through Texas skeletons: two species, reinforced skull, temporal openings, robust teeth, agile movement and uncertain diet.

• Archosaurus rossicus

  Archosaurus rossicus from Vyazniki: its diagnostic premaxilla, disputed referred bones, latest Permian age and cautious place among early archosauriforms.

• Ardeosaurus

  Ardeosaurus brevipes from Bavaria explained through a lost holotype, newer articulated skeletons, ultraviolet study and disputed squamate relationships.

• Azendohsaurus

  Azendohsaurus explained through Moroccan teeth and rich Madagascar skeletons: skull, neck, claws, herbivory, allokotosaur relationships and habitat.

• Bunostegos akokanensis

  Bunostegos akokanensis from Niger: its skull bosses, age-spanning fossil sample, limb anatomy and the limits of an upright-posture hypothesis.

• Captorhinus aguti

  Captorhinus aguti from Oklahoma: its Richards Spur fossil sample, growing tooth rows, jaw wear, possible omnivory and what disarticulated bones cannot show.

• Coelurosauravus elivensis

  Coelurosauravus elivensis from Madagascar: its separate patagial rods, grasping fingers, revised skeleton and evidence for life in trees.

• Coniasaurus

  Coniasaurus crassidens from the Cenomanian Chalk of England had a distinctive tooth row, but its fragmentary fossils leave its body and exact diet uncertain.

• Coniophis

  Coniophis precedens is anchored by a Late Cretaceous vertebra; the skull bones later referred to it remain disputed, complicating claims about its feeding anatomy.

• Dalinghosaurus

  Dalinghosaurus longidigitus is a small Early Cretaceous lizard from China known from a type skeleton and additional fossils preserving skin impressions, juveniles and uncertain locomotor clues.

• Dinilysia

  Dinilysia patagonica from Argentina: skulls and articulated skeletons, CT evidence from the braincase and ear, body-size estimates and a debated phylogenetic position.

• Dolichosaurus

  Dolichosaurus longicollis was a small Cenomanian marine squamate from England, with an elongated neck, reduced forelimbs and a fragmentary skull that limits reconstructions of its feeding and swimming.

• Doswellia kaltenbachi

  Doswellia kaltenbachi from Virginia: the Smithsonian type material, unusual skull openings, a wide rib cage, rows of osteoderms and the limits of its proposed aquatic habits.

• Drepanosaurus

  Drepanosaurus unguicaudatus from the Triassic: its Italian holotype, three-dimensional forelimb bones, enormous claw, hooked tail and uncertain feeding behaviour.

• Eichstaettisaurus

  Eichstaettisaurus schroederi from Late Jurassic Bavaria: its near-complete skeleton, 2017 redescription, early gekkotan affinities and evidence for climbing.

• Estesia

  Estesia mongoliensis is a Late Cretaceous anguimorph from Mongolia with grooved, cutting teeth; venom delivery is plausible but glands and venom are not fossilised.

• Eunotosaurus

  Eunotosaurus africanus from the Permian Karoo: nine pairs of expanded ribs, the disputed turtle connection, digging adaptations and limits of its fossil record.

• Eupodophis

  Eupodophis descouensi is a Cenomanian marine snake from Lebanon with a pelvis and minute hind limbs; synchrotron imaging revealed anatomy hidden inside limestone.

• Garjainia prima

  Garjainia prima from European Russia: its well-preserved skull, newly referred skeletons, large body, muscle evidence and relationship to Erythrosuchus.

• Gigantophis

  Gigantophis garstini from the Fayum: its type vertebrae, revised anatomy, madtsoiid relationships and a cautious estimate of body length.

• Gilmoreteius

  Gilmoreteius chulsanensis is a Late Cretaceous Mongolian lizard known from the Barun Goyot Formation. Its skull and varied teeth inform feeding hypotheses, while its replacement name reflects a taxonomic naming problem.

• Gobiderma

  Gobiderma pulchrum is a Campanian Mongolian monstersaur known from skulls and associated skeletons. Its cranial osteoderms and tooth anatomy distinguish it from living venomous gila monsters.

• Huehuecuetzpalli

  Huehuecuetzpalli mixtecus from Mexico’s Tlayúa Formation: two growth stages, a distinctive skull and an early phylogenetic position among squamates.

• Hyperodapedon gordoni

  Hyperodapedon gordoni from Late Triassic Scotland: its skull, beak, multirow tooth plates, growth histology and the debated limits of the genus.

• Hypuronector limnaios

  Hypuronector limnaios from New Jersey: its scattered Lockatong skeleton, elongated tail chevrons, proposed swimming function and possible arboreal life.

• Kuehneosaurus

  Kuehneosaurus latus from Triassic England: its elongated ribs, gliding membrane, fossil record and the aerodynamic difference from Kuehneosuchus.

• Mecistotrachelos apeoros

  Two CT-studied skeletons reveal the long neck, rib-supported membrane and grasping feet of Mecistotrachelos apeoros from the Triassic Solite Quarry.

• Megachirella

  Megachirella wachtleri from the Middle Triassic of Italy: its articulated holotype, micro-CT redescription, proposed stem-squamate placement and limits of the evolutionary claim.

• Mesosuchus browni

  Mesosuchus browni from South Africa preserves an early rhynchosaur skull, a downturned snout, marginal teeth and braincase anatomy studied by CT.

• Milleretta rubidgei

  Milleretta rubidgei from the South African Karoo has skull anatomy reshaped by growth; synchrotron CT studies challenge older phylogenetic assumptions.

• Najash

  Najash rionegrina from Patagonia preserves a sacrum, pelvis and hind limbs; later skulls and skeletons clarify its anatomy and position among early snakes.

• Nyctiphruretus acudens

  Nyctiphruretus acudens from the Mezen Basin preserves several skulls, but its exact position among Permian parareptiles remains uncertain.

• Oculudentavis

  Oculudentavis from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber: the 2020 bird-like interpretation, two named species, a second specimen and the evidence for an unusual squamate.

• Pachyrhachis

  Pachyrhachis problematicus from Cenomanian marine limestone combines a snake-like skull and elongated trunk with a pelvis and well-developed hind limbs.

• Palaeophis: a giant snake of Eocene waters

  Palaeophis fossils from Eocene seas: vertebral anatomy, estimates for P. colossaeus, the Trans-Saharan Seaway and limits of size and diet claims.

• Paramacellodus

  Paramacellodus is an extinct paramacellodid lizard known from jaws, teeth, vertebrae and small osteoderms. Its scattered record spans several regions, but not every similar fossil can be assigned to the type species P. oweni.

• Pareiasaurus

  Pareiasaurus serridens from South Africa's Late Permian Karoo Basin: its lost type skull, teeth, osteoderms, growth evidence and likely way of life.

• Parviraptor

  Parviraptor estesi from southern England: its scattered fossil record, snake-like teeth, 2025 parviraptorid revision and competing phylogenetic placements.

• Petrolacosaurus

  Petrolacosaurus kansensis from Kansas: its hind-limb holotype, later skeletons, paired temporal openings, uncertain diet and place among early diapsids.

• Polyglyphanodon

  Polyglyphanodon sternbergi is a Late Cretaceous lizard from Utah known from numerous skeletons. Its transversely widened, ridged teeth support plant processing, while a complete lower temporal bar and possible sexual dimorphism emerged from later study.

• Pontosaurus

  Pontosaurus lesinensis is a Cenomanian–Turonian marine squamate from Hvar, Croatia. Its articulated skeleton preserves a long vertebral column and four developed limbs, documenting an early aquatic body plan before the paddle-like flippers of later mosasaurs.

• Procolophon trigoniceps

  Procolophon trigoniceps from Early Triassic Gondwana: its cheek spikes, changing species names, tooth replacement, postcranial fossils and limits of lifestyle evidence.

• Prolacerta broomi

  Prolacerta broomi from South Africa and Antarctica: its holotype, a large Antarctic skeleton, corrected skull anatomy and unsettled phylogenetic signals.

• Protorosaurus speneri

  Protorosaurus speneri from the Late Permian of Germany and England: its early documentation, Kupferschiefer fossils, long neck and changing phylogenetic position.

• Rhynchosaurus

  Rhynchosaurus articeps from Grinshill: its lectotype, about 17 individuals, beak, tooth plates, mid-Triassic habitat and separation from later rhynchosaurs.

• Sanajeh

  Sanajeh indicus from the Lameta Formation is preserved with sauropod eggs and a hatchling; the association informs feeding behaviour but does not capture an attack.

• Saniwa

  Saniwa ensidens from Wyoming’s Green River Formation preserves monitor-like anatomy and a rare pineal complex with both pineal and parapineal eyes.

• Sarmatosuchus otschevi

  Sarmatosuchus otschevi from the Donguz Formation: its partial type skeleton, downturned snout, palate teeth, estimated size and revised relationships.

• Schoenesmahl

  Schoenesmahl dyspepsia from Late Jurassic Bavaria: its disarticulated holotype inside Compsognathus, 2018 redescription, distinction from Bavarisaurus and limits of the gut-content evidence.

• Scutosaurus

  Scutosaurus karpinskii from the Sokolki beds of northern Russia: Amalitsky's excavations, skeletons, osteoderms, feeding and life on land.

• Shringasaurus

  Shringasaurus indicus from India's Denwa Formation: its horned adults, growth series, herbivorous teeth and place among allokotosaurs.

• Slavoia

  Slavoia darevskii is a Late Cretaceous Gobi lizard whose skeleton shows an elongated trunk and early stages of limb reduction. A 2017 study interpreted it as a stem amphisbaenian, but its relationships and burrowing behaviour remain matters of anatomical inference.

• Tetrapodophis

  Tetrapodophis amplectus from Brazil: its single slab-and-counter-slab skeleton, the 2015 snake interpretation and the 2021 reassessment as a dolichosaur.

• Trilophosaurus buettneri

  Trilophosaurus buettneri from the Late Triassic of Texas: its reidentified maxilla holotype, three-cusped teeth, growth series and disputed climbing hypothesis.

• Vancleavea campi

  Vancleavea campi from the Late Triassic of New Mexico: its articulated skeleton, unusual osteoderms, skull, uncertain species record and possible semi-aquatic habits.

• Weigeltisaurus jaekeli

  Weigeltisaurus jaekeli from the Upper Permian of Germany: its complete skeleton, skull crests, patagial rods, gliding anatomy and the limits of its reconstruction.

• Xianglong

  Xianglong zhaoi is known from one articulated lizard skeleton with skin impressions from China’s Jehol Group. Elongated ribs supported a patagium, providing direct fossil evidence for a gliding adaptation, while aerodynamic performance and its precise place among lizards are inferred.

• Yabeinosaurus

  Yabeinosaurus from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota is known from juveniles and adults, fish-bearing gut contents and a pregnant specimen. A lost type and immature neotype complicate the species names.

• Youngina capensis

  Youngina capensis from South Africa: its type skull, synchrotron CT evidence, revised palate and jaw anatomy, phylogenetic position and the 2025 reassignment of a famous fossil aggregation.

• Eurhinodelphis

  Eurhinodelphis explained through Belgian skulls, a toothless elongated upper rostrum, revised species, associated ear bones and competing hypotheses about its feeding and relationships.

• Castorocauda

  Castorocauda explained through its Daohugou fossil: fur impressions, a flattened tail, webbed feet, digging anatomy, diet, taxonomy and limits of inference.

• Ancient lizard and snake catalogue A to Z

  Explore ancient lizards and snakes through fossil profiles, evidence-led notes and filters for age, lineage and region.

• Anabernicula: small waterfowl from ancient North America

  Meet Anabernicula, a small fossil waterfowl from Pliocene and Pleistocene North America, and see why its species and relationships remain debated.

• Anomalopteryx: a small forest moa with a fossil diet

  Fossils, coprolites and a nuclear genome reveal the forest ecology of Anomalopteryx didiformis, one of New Zealand’s smaller moa.

• Apteribis: an island ibis with reduced vision

  Fossils from Maui and Molokai document two named flightless ibises. A 2026 study suggests reduced vision and possible nocturnality, not direct proof of night activity.

• Aptornis: the flightless adzebill of New Zealand

  Aptornis was a large flightless New Zealand bird with powerful legs and a deep bill. Ancient DNA places it near African and Madagascan flufftails, while its exact diet and extinction history remain uncertain.

• Aquatilavipes: a name for fossil footprints

  More than 200 small footprints from British Columbia preserve the ichnogenus Aquatilavipes. They record track shapes, not the body or biological identity of a bird species.

• Archaeospheniscus: a fragmentary fossil penguin genus

  Several species have been assigned to Archaeospheniscus, but they come from different formations and ages. Fragmentary bones make the genus and species limits a continuing taxonomic question.

• Avipeda: fossil footprints and the limits of identification

  What Avipeda tracks preserve, how footprint names differ from bird genera, and why the identity of their makers remains uncertain.

• Bathornis: a long-legged bird of ancient North America

  What Bathornis fossils reveal about North America's long-legged Cenozoic birds, their changing classification, terrestrial anatomy and uncertain diet.

• Bountyphaps: the extinct pigeon of Henderson Island

  Bones from Polynesian archaeological sites identify a large Henderson Island pigeon; its flight ability, closest relative and exact extinction date remain uncertain.

• Chendytes: a flightless sea duck of Ice Age California

  Fossils and archaeological sites trace Chendytes lawi, a large flightless sea duck hunted along the California coast before its late Holocene disappearance.

• Cnemiornis: the flightless geese of New Zealand

  Two large Cnemiornis geese lived on New Zealand's North and South Islands. Skeletons show flightlessness and a relationship to Cereopsis, while their ecology and extinction need careful qualification.

• Copepteryx: a giant diving bird from Japan

  Copepteryx fossils reveal a plotopterid seabird with flipper-like wings, two named species and a giant form known from a single femur.

• Dasornis: the giant bony-toothed bird of the Eocene sea

  Skulls and jaws from England and Morocco identify Dasornis among the giant pelagornithids, with a wingspan estimated from incomplete bones.

• Delphinornis: a slender-footed penguin from Eocene Antarctica

  A partial Delphinornis skeleton and many foot bones document slender-footed Eocene penguins from Seymour Island, while taxonomic boundaries remain debated.

• Diatryma: a giant flightless bird with a renewed name

  A newly described Geiseltal skull and skeletal comparisons led a 2024 review to restore Diatryma geiselensis as distinct from Gastornis.

• Euryapteryx: the broad-billed moa and its variable record

  Euryapteryx was a stout-legged moa known from New Zealand. DNA, eggshell and chick bones complicate its species boundaries and growth history.

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