In Depth Maaradactylus is a genus of anhangeurid pterosaur that lived in Brazil during the early Cretaceous. Maaradactylus is known to have had thirty-five pairs of teeth in the upper jaw as well as a crest rising up from the front of the upper jaw. Being a member of the Anhangueridae, Maaradactylus would have been … Read more
In Depth The genus Pterodactylus was the first ever pterosaur named, however it suffered from the wastebasket taxon effect for the first fifty to hundred years of its history, and since this time many former species have been re-identified as being similar yet very distinct genera. Aerodactylus is yet another example of this, being originally … Read more
In Depth Kariridraco is a genus of tapejarid pterosaur that lived in South America during the Early Cretaceous. Further reading - A new azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil and the paleobiogeography of the Tapejaridae. - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 66. - Gabriela M. Cerqueira, Mateus A.C. Santos, Maikon F. Marks, Juliana M. Say�o … Read more
In Depth Among the pterosaurs Quetzalcoatlus is usually treated as one of if not the largest known pterosaur, and so for a long time any large pterosaur bones of the azdharchid line (which Quetzalcoatlus belongs to), were usually attributed to the genus. These included the growing numbers of large azdharchid pterosaur bones that were being … Read more
In Depth When first described in 1833, Gnathosaurus was actually thought to have been the remains of small prehistoric crocodile. This persisted until the discovery of the skull in 1951, which revealed Gnathosaurus to actually be a filter feeding pterosaur similar to Ctenochasma. The teeth of Gnathosaurus were very fine and projected outwards from the … Read more
In Depth Longchengpterus has been suggested to be a junior synonym to the pterosaur Nurhachius. As such, the future of Longchengpterus as an independent genus is uncertain. Further Reading – A new iodactylid pterosaur from western Liaoning. – Geological Bulletin of China 25(6):737-740. – L. Wang, L. Li, Y. Duan & S.-L. Cheng – 2006.
In Depth Samrukia is a genus that illustrated the dangers of naming prehistoric creatures by only partial remains. The original describers of Samrukia (Naish et al.) had a single jawbone that was first thought to belong to an ovirapotosaurian theropod dinosaur, but then later thought to belong to a bird. This raised a lot of … Read more
In Depth Serradraco is a genus of pterosaur that lived during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new pterosaur specimen from the Upper Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation (Cretaceous, Valanginian) of southern England and a review of Lonchodectes sagittirostris (Owen 1874). - Geological Society, London, Special Publications: SP455.5. - S. Rigal, D. M. Martill & … Read more
In Depth Although named from only relatively few bones, the fossil remains of Vectidraco are still enough to clearly identify it as a new distinct genus from other known pterosaur genera. The fossils of Vectidraco also show that in life the bones were pneumatised, a weight saving adaptation which meant that the bones of the … Read more
In Depth The forward dentition of Coloborhynchus was quite special with the front two teeth pointing forwards, and the immediate three pairs of teeth behind them pointing to the sides. This tooth arrangement would have made it much easier for Coloborhynchus to catch and carry fish out of the water. The remaining teeth behind the … Read more