In Depth Douzhanopterus is a genus of pterosaur that lived in China during the late Jurassic. Douzhanopterus is a pterodactyliforme pterosaur and what this means is that the genus shows a transition from more primitive rhamphorhynchid pterosaurs of the early Jurassic to the more advanced pterodactyloid pterosaurs of the late Jurassic and Cretaceous. Further Reading … Read more
In Depth Argentinadraco is a genus of azdarchid pterosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. At the time of its description, Argentinadraco is only known from the frontal half of the lower jaws, so it is difficult to ascertain specific details about this pterosaur. Further Reading - New azhdarchoid pterosaur (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) … Read more
In Depth For much of the early part of its scientific life the pterosaur Arambourgiania was known as Titanopteryx, however in 1987 Lev Nesov was made aware that the genus name was already being used by a fly. Under ICZN rules, no two animals may share the same genus name. Nesov renamed the specimen Arambourgiania … Read more
In Depth Austriadraco is a genus of pterosaur that lived in Austria during the late Triassic. Austriadraco is also noted for bearing a resemblance to the genera Arcticodactylus and Eudimorphodon. Further Reading - Comments on Triassic pterosaurs with discussion about ontogeny and description of new taxa. - Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ci�ncias 87(2):669-689. - … Read more
In Depth Despite being known from only scant fossil material, Normannognathus seems to have been a dsungaripterid pterosaur, a group noted for specialising in shellfish. The teeth seem to have covered at least the entire front portion of the jaws with teeth being present in the tip, although it is unknown how far back they … Read more
In Depth Determining the phylogenetic position of Chaoyangopterus was problematic to the extent that the Chaoyangopteridae has now been created within the Azhdarchoidea to accommodate it and other similar pterosaurs. Chaoyangopterus is toothless and is thought to have been a piscivore. Further Reading – Two new pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of … Read more
In Depth Alcione is a genus of small nyctosaurid pterosaur that lived in North Africa during the late Cretaceous. Alcione is noted for having very short wings, something that could aid either flapping flight, or perhaps streamlining for use after entering water. This feature combined with the knowledge of the Alcione fossils coming from a … Read more
In Depth Although currently known from only a lower jaw Aetodactylus is believed to represent an ornithocheirid pterosaur, and as such it is only the second of its type to have been discovered in North America. The pointed teeth of Aetodactylus are pointed and evenly arranged into pairs, the first of which project forwards. This … Read more
In Depth Iberodactylus is a genus of pterosaur that lived in Europe during the early Cretaceous. Iberodactylus is thought to be related to the genus Hamipterus. For this reason the describers used more complete remains of Hamipterus to gauge the size of Iberodactylus, the result of which was a wingspan estimate of up to about … Read more
In Depth Afrotapejara is a genus of tapejarid pterosaur that lived in North Africa at the time of the Early/Late Cretaceous boundary. Further Reading - new tapejarid (Pterosauria, Azhdarchoidea) from the mid-Cretaceous Kem Kem beds of Takmout, southern Morocco. - Cretaceous Research. - David M. Martill, Roy Smith, David M. Unwin, Alexander Kao, James McPhee … Read more