In Depth Leptostomia is a genus of pterosaur that lived in North Africa during the Cretaceous, possibly at the boundary of the early and late periods of the Cretaceous. Leptostomia is thought to have been a small pterosaur, possibly possessing a very slim elongated beak. This might have been a feeding adaptation for probing into … Read more
In Depth Caulkicephalus had to be reconstructed from several fragments before it could be classified. Once pieced together the form of an ornithocheirid pterosaur was easy to see including the specialised fish catching dentition. Although only the replacement teeth that are still within the jaw have been preserved, the size of the actual teeth can … Read more
In Depth Described in 2012, Europejara has gone down as the first tapejarid pterosaur known from Europe. At the time of writing the only known fossils of this pterosaur are a partial skull and lower jaw. The preserved portion of the skull is two hundred and thirty millimetres long, though in life the skull is … Read more
In Depth Despite the fact that Mythunga is only known from a partial skull it is still one of the best preserved Australian pterosaur fossils which are in themselves rare from Australia. This is not to say that Australia didn’t have its fair share of pterosaurs, just that they did not preserve very well in … Read more
In Depth Possibly the main feature of interest to researchers of Germanodactylus is the head crest. Although quite unremarkable compared to some other pterosaurs like Nyctosaurus or Tupandactylus, it is a good example of the early forms that seem to be more common to the more advanced pterodactyloid pterosaurs. The crest itself is best known … Read more
In Depth Because of the way the teeth were arranged, Liaoxipterus was initially thought to have been a filter feeder of the ctenochasmatid group of pterosaurs, however Liaoxipterus had a lower number of teeth than others members of this group. Later studies in 2006 and 2008 respectively have now placed Liaoxipterus into the istiodactylid pterosaur … Read more
In Depth The western word for naming a genus dragon is ‘draco’, in China its ‘long’, but Azhdarcho is the Uzbek word for such a mythical beast. Azhdarcho is also the centre for the azdarchid line of pterosaurs. The azhdarchids are known for having long necks, the result of neck vertebrae that are longer in … Read more
In Depth Draigwenia is a genus of pterosaur that lived in Europe during the early Cretaceous. Draigwenia is only known from a jaw fragment which over time has previously been attributed to Ornithocheirus, Amblydectes and Lonchodectes before being moved to a distinct genus in 2021. Further reading - On the validity of the genus Amblydectes … Read more
In Depth Linlongopterus is a genus of pterosaurs that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new toothed pteranodontoid (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from the Jiufotang Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Aptian) of China and comments on Liaoningopterus gui Wang and Zhou, 2003. - Historical Biology 27(6):782-795. - T. Rodrigues, S. Jiang, X. Cheng, X. … Read more
In Depth The phylogentic classification of Tapejara has been quite turbulent with a total of three species once being attributed to the genus with the one surviving species is the first type specimen, Tapejara wellnhoferi. The two other species Tapejara imperator and Tapejara navigans have since been split to form the new genus Tupandactylus. Another … Read more