Montanazhdarcho

Mon-tan-ah-az-dar-ko.
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Harper Gray

Paleoartist

Harper Grey combines artistic talent with scientific precision to bring extinct creatures and environments back to life. Collaborating closely with paleontologists

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Name

Montanazhdarcho (Montana Azhdarcho).

Phonetic

Mon-tan-ah-az-dar-ko.

Named By

Kevin Padian, Armand de Ricql�s, and Jack Horner - 1995.

Classification

Carnivore, Reptilia, Pterosaur, Pterodactyloidea, Azhdarchoidea, Azhdarchidae.

Diet

Piscivore/carnivore.

Species

M. minor

Size

2.5 meter wingspan.

Known locations

USA, Montana, Glacier County, Blackfoot Nation - Two Medicine Formation.

Time Period

Campanian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Partial remains including partial mandible, shoulder girdle, cervical vertebra and partial left wing.

In Depth

       Not much can be said about Montanazhdarcho except that much of the fossil material, with the exception of the crushed cervical vertebra, was uncompressed. The fossil was also of an adult individual which at a two and half meter wingspan, was small by azdarchid pterosaur standards.

Further Reading

– Bone histology determines identification of a new fossil taxon of pterosaur (Reptilia: Archosauria). – Comptes Rendus de l’Academie des Science, Serie II (320)77-84. – K. Padian, A. J. de Ricqles & J. R. Horner – 1995. – Reassignment of Montanazhdarcho minor as a non-azhdarchid member of the Azhdarchoidea. – Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 35: 104.- Nathan Carroll – 2015.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT