Dimorphodon

Dimorphodon macronyx · Dimorphodon was a medium-sized pterosaur that lived in Europe during the early Jurassic Period, about 201-191 million years ago.

It lived about 201.3 to 189.6 million years ago.

Dimorphodon
Photo: Mark P. Witton, CC BY 4.0
Dimorphodon
Photo: Creator: Dmitry Bogdanov, CC BY 3.0
Dimorphodon
Photo: Frank Kovalchek from Anchorage, Alaska, USA, CC BY 2.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderPterosauria
FamilyDimorphodontidae
GenusDimorphodon
SpeciesDimorphodon macronyx

Where its fossils were found

Southern England, mainly Lyme Regis on the Dorset coast.

Fun facts

  • Its name means "two-form tooth" because it had two distinct types of teeth in its jaws, which is comparatively rare among reptiles.
  • Dimorphodon's skull was large and bulky, about 23 centimetres long, but big openings separated by thin bony bars kept its weight down.
  • Its lower jaw held five longer teeth plus thirty to forty tiny, flattened, pointed teeth shaped like lancets.
  • Dimorphodon was probably a poor flyer that managed only frantic short flights, like modern fowl, tinamous and woodpeckers, and likely took to the air as a last resort.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).