Bad News

The google site palaeocritti actually is down now.

I click this link:

https://sites.google.com/site/palaeocritti/by-group/gorgonopsia/aelurosaurus

This happens:

Back in November 2016, and a long time after that, the non-payment of the site simply meant one had to use:

https://sites.google.com/site/palaeocritti/by-group/gorgonopsia/aelurosaurus

instead of:

www.palaeocritti.com//by-group/gorgonopsia/aelurosaurus

as previously.

Now, the material itself is gone.

Which is bad for Young Earth Creationists, since it gave access to lots of details which could help to debunk the claims presented as generalities derived from such details.

I wanted to check out T Rex on it, because I remembered it said "30 skeletons" ... Palaeofieldguide is still up, it gives less detail, for T. Rex it says:

Several skeletons

https://sites.google.com/site/paleofieldguide/tyrannosaurus

I did not want to get fooled into not saving it./HGL

Good News!

Saint Charles Borromeo is praying for me.

On the url "palaeocritti.com" you find nothing, domain is up for sale, and the guys who did it haven't paid for it.

HOWEVER, this does not delete their materials.

Same site is actually available under a longer url. As I found out while looking at Aelurosaurus felinus.

https://sites.google.com/site/palaeocritti/by-group/gorgonopsia/aelurosaurus

And classification by location is also there:

https://sites.google.com/site/palaeocritti/by-location

Parallel work is also done by this site:

https://sites.google.com/site/paleofieldguide/by-country

My back up blog was not necessary, but it was a good exercise for me!

Hans Georg Lundahl
Nanterre UL
Saint Charles Borromeo
4.XI.2016

Mission failed

I now see that the original palaeocritti site has gone down.

Only FEW of the material have been saved onto this blog.

I wanted to check if land dinosaurs had been found in Holy Land, Elasmosauri had, but these are sea reptiles.

Palaeocritti was the site to consult, I had not yet done Holy Land in this salvage blog. Now it is too late./HGL

Carcharodontosaurus saharicus + iguidensis

Carcharodontosaurus was a large meat-eating theropod from the Early Cretaceous of Africa. Its huge skull with powerful jaw equipped with long serrated teeth make it a formidable predator. Carcharodontosaurus was originally described by French paleontologists Deperet and Savornin in 1925 as a species of Megalosaurus from fragmentary remains found in the desert of Algeria. The name Carcharodontosaurus was coined by Stromer in 1931. The original material was destroyed during WWII but additional fossils were found later. In 2007, Brusatte and Sereno described a new species from Niger, C. iguidensis.

Name

Carcharodontosaurus saharicus [+ C. iguidensis]

Authority

(Deperet & Savornin, 1925) Stromer, 1931

Meaning of generic name

Carcharodon (Jagged teeth =) Shark [+ sauros] Lizard

Meaning of specific names

[from Sahara desert, + from Iguidi of Agadez district in Niger]

Size

Length: 13.5 m

Remains

Fragmentary skull and associated postcrania.

Age and Distribution

Baharija Formation (Cenomanian), Marsa Matruh Egypt; Tegana Formation Ksar-es-Souk Morocco; Chenini Formation "Continental intercalaire" Medinine, Tunisia; "Continental intercalaire" (Gharyan) Lybia; "Continental intercalaire" Adrar Tamenghest Wargla (Albian), Algeria; "Continental intercalaire" Agadez, Niger

Classification

Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Carnosauria Carcharodontosauridae

Further Reading

C. Depéret and J. Savornin. 1925. Sur la découverte d'une faune de Vertébrés albiens à Timimoun (Sahara occidental) [On the discovery of a fauna of Albian vertebrates at Timimoun (western Sahara)]. Comptes Rendus des Hebdomadaires des Seances de l'Academie des Sciences à Paris 181:1108-1111.

S. Brusatte and P. C. Sereno. 2007. A new species of Carcharodontosaurus (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Cenomanian of Niger and a revision of the genus. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27(4):902-916

Synonyms

Megalosaurus saharicus Deperet & Savornin, 1925; Dryptosaurus saharicus (Deperet & Savornin, 1925)

Rugops primus

Name

Rugops primus

Authority

Sereno, Wilson and Conrad, 2004

Meaning of generic name

Ruga, wrinkle (Latin); ops<i>, face (Greek).

Meaning of specific name

primus, first (Latin). Named for its significance as one of the earliest abelisaurids with textured external skull surfaces.

Size

Length: 24 - 30 ft (7 - 9 m)

Remains

Holotype: MNN IGU1, Partial cranium lacking the posterolateral portions of the skull roof and palate.

[Skull length nearly measured, part lacking calculated, body length calculated, then.]

Age and Distribution

Horizon: Echkar Formation, Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian).

Locality: Near In Abangharit, Niger Republic, Africa

Classification

Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Ceratosauria Abelisauroidea Abelisauridae

Further Reading

Sereno, P., Wilson, J. & Conrad. 2004. New dinosaurs link southern landmasses in the Mid-Cretaceous. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 271, 1325-1330.

Kaprosuchus saharicus

Kaprosuchus is known from only a single almost complete skull discovered in Niger. This crocodyliform was nicknamed "boar croc" after its unusual caniniform teeth which resemble those of a boar. It has been estimated that Kaprosuchus may have reached lengths of 6 metres. It is thought that this crocodyliform would have been strictly a terrestrial (living on land) animal and certainly a feared predator!

Name

Kaprosuchus saharicus

Authority

Sereno & Larsson , 2009

Meaning of generic name

Kapros, boar (Greek); souchos, crocodile (Greek).

Meaning of specific name

Sahara, Sahara Desert; -icus, belonging to (Greek).

Size

Body length: 6 m , Skull length: 50 cm

Remains

Holotype (MNN IGU12): nearly complete skull.

[Body length calculated, skull length actually measured, most of it at least: photo does not look like back of skull is there, but that might be because I know too little of croc skulls in general.]

Age and Distribution

Horizon: Echkar Formation, Tegama Series; Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian).

Locality: Iguidi, Agadez District, Niger.

Classification

Crocodylomorpha Neosuchia Mahajangasuchidae.

Further Reading

P. C. Sereno and H. C. E. Larsson. 2009. Cretaceous crocodyliformes from the Sahara. ZooKeys 28:1-143.

Suchomimus tenerensis

This large theropod from Niger was very similar to Baryonyx to the point that some author placed it in the same genus. It had an elongated crocodile-like snout equipped with sharp teeth ideal for catching fish. It lived in the similar marshy environments than the modern crocodiles. Blade shape vertebral spines form a low sail over the hips.

Name

Suchomimus tenerensis

Authority

Sereno, Beck, Dutheil, Gado, Larsson, Lyon, Marcot, Rauhut, Sadleir, Sidor, Varricchio, Wilson & Wilson, 1998

Meaning of generic name

Crocodile mimic

Meaning of specific name

[From Tenere Desert]

Size

Length: 11 m

Remains

Nearly complete skeleton with skull.

Age and Distribution

Elrhaz Formation (Late Aptian), Tenere Desert region, Niger.

Classification

Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Spinosauroidea Spinosauridae

Further Reading

P. C. Sereno, A. L. Beck, D. B. Dutheil, B. Gado, H. C. E. Larsson, G. H. Lyon, J. D. Marcot, O. W. M. Rauhut, R. W. Sadleir, C. A. Sidor, D. D. Varricchio, G. P. Wilson, and J. A. Wilson. 1998. A long-snouted predatory dinosaur from Africa and the evolution of spinosaurids. Science 282:1298-1302.

Synonyms

Cristatusaurus lapparenti Taquet & Russell, 1998