Late Jurassic

Yi: Beast of the Week

 This week we will be checking out a dinosaur that was so unusual, it completely changed what we thought we knew about dinosaur evolution.  Check out Yi qi! (pronounced "EE-chee")Yi was a small theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Hebei, in Northeastern China during the late Jurassic period, about 159 million years ago.  From snout to tail it only measured about a foot (30 cm) long and its wingspan was about 2 feet (60cm) wide.  The genus came, "Yi" translates from Mandarin to "wing" and

21/06/2026 prehistoricbeastoftheweek

Stunning 150-million-year-old stegosaur skull rewrites dinosaur evolution

A spectacular dinosaur discovery in Spain is giving scientists a rare new look inside the world of stegosaurs. Paleontologists uncovered the best-preserved stegosaur skull ever found in Europe, belonging to the iconic plated dinosaur Dacentrurus armatus, which roamed Earth around 150 million years ago. Because stegosaur skulls are extremely fragile and almost never survive intact, the fossil is helping researchers uncover previously unknown details about how these armored giants evolved.

17/05/2026 sciencedaily

Torvosaurus: Beast of the Week

Today we are going to look at a huge Jurassic predatory dinosaur, Torvosaurus tanneri!  Torvosaurus lived about 150 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period. Its bones have been unearthed in Colorado, USA, Portugal, and possibly Germany (Europe and North America were not as vastly separated back then, remember, so a lot of the dinosaurs on each of them from that time shared recent ancestors).  From nose to tail it measured up to 36 feet (about 11m) and would have been among the largest,

08/02/2026 prehistoricbeastoftheweek

Anurognathus: Beast of the Week

This week we will be checking out a unique little pterosaur, Anurognathus ammoni!  Anurognathus lived in what is now Germany during the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago.  It was tiny, sporting a 14 inch (35.5 cm) wingspan, and would have likely eaten insects.  It's genus name translates to "Frog Jaw" since its skull was similar looking to a frog's, being extremely blunt with a wide mouth.  Watercolor reconstruction of Anurognathus ammoni by Christopher DiPiazza.Anurognathus' sku

14/12/2025 prehistoricbeastoftheweek

Episode 170: Cariocecus bocagei

The iguanodontians were an incredibly successful group within the Cretaceous. They could reach incredible sizes, with the largest species even matching the proportions of some sauropods, and they also had an incredible palaeogeographic range, meaning that their remains are found all over the world today. In the late Jurassic, they were a lot less diverse [&hellip

15/09/2025 palaeocast