Dsungaripterus

Dsungaripterus weii · Dsungaripterus was a pterosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous in what is now China and possibly South Korea.

It lived about 137.1 to 132.6 million years ago.

Dsungaripterus
Photo: Connor Ashbridge, CC BY 4.0
Dsungaripterus
Photo: Stanton F. Fink (Apokryltaros), CC BY 3.0
Dsungaripterus
Photo: H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderPterosauria
FamilyDsungaripteridae
GenusDsungaripterus
SpeciesDsungaripterus weii

Where its fossils were found

Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, northwestern China; possibly South Korea.

Fun facts

  • Dsungaripterus had a wingspan of about 3 to 3.5 metres, roughly the width of a small car.
  • Its sturdy, thick-walled skeleton suggests it spent much of its time on the ground rather than in the air.
  • Its flying may have involved abrupt landings and lots of flapping.
  • Its skull was over 46 centimetres long, and its head and neck together were almost 1 metre long.

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