Demonic Dinosaurs Continue

Daemonosaurus chauliodus, from Sues, et al.,
as presented by Jaime A. Headden

Halloween is just around the corner, so if scary sounding or scary looking dinosaurs are not your kind of fare, no worries. The dinosaurs will be getting far less evil sounding when November rolls around, but for now there are at least a very few remaining that are (still) legitimate dinosaurs to discuss. The dinosaur this week sounds much more devilish than the intended meaning of the name actually is from when it was initially described in 2012. The small theropod Daemonosaurus cahuliodus was recovered from the Late Triassic Chinle Formation of New Mexico and is known from a solid chunk of rock that encompasses the entire surviving cranium; it is really an interesting piece of rock. The most unusual anatomy of this skull, according to the authors, was that it had a very short cranium for a basal theropod and its protruding teeth were also considered quite derived. Regardless, the restoration of the skull is wonderful, thanks to the completeness of the specimen, and the inferred body plan, which we will see later, is well done and very intriguing. For today, however, bask in the reconstruction of the cranium and admire its shape.