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 Almost nothing is known about this pterosaur, not even its position and relationship amongst other pterosaurs, only that it is possibly a basal rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur based on the shape of its jugal and early appearance in the fossil record. Further Reading – Pterosaur remains from the Kayenta Formation (?Early Jurassic) of Arizona . … Read more
In Depth Preondactylus is another contender for earliest pterosaur although new discoveries are constantly challenging this. One feature that confirms the basal placement of Preondactylus is the short wings, since as pterosaurs evolved the wings became proportionately larger. The hind legs are also very long in relation to the total body length. The diet of … 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 Very little was known about Caviramus when it was discovered as it was only known from a ramus (part of the side of the lower jaw) and two teeth. This lack of knowledge continued until 2009 when another pterosaur from the same area, Raeticodactylus, was found to have been identical to the fragment … Read more
In Depth As a member of the rhamphorhynchoids, Cacibupteryx represents one of the more basal pterosaurs that were still common towards the end of the Jurassic. The jaws of Cacibupteryx are quite robust indicating that it was better adapted for more powerful prey than other more gracile pterosaurs. Further Reading – A new pterosaur from … Read more
In Depth Kunpengopterus is thought to have been very similar to Darwinopterus although it does not appear to have had the same expansive head crest. However Kunpengopterus does appear to have had a smaller head crest as evidenced by a small bony projection on top of the skull, above the eyes. Further Reading – New … Read more
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