Sep 11
11
An Introduction To Flying Dinosaurs
The fossil record indicates that most dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic
Some Flying Dinosaurs Were HUGE!
Era, this was around sixty-five to two hundred and thirty million years ago. They varied in size considerably, from small chicken like species, to large animals
there were as big as a modern day house. Their diet was also
incredibly diverse, many were plant eaters, though some were carnivorous. They became extinct at the end of the cretaceous period, for reasons that are still not fully understood. Though we usually think of them as being land dwelling animals, there were also a large number of flying dinosaurs that existed at various times.
The list of dinosaurs that had the ability to fly is extremely long. Those that are of note include Anurognathus, Batrachognathus, Cearadactylus, Anhanguera, Dsungaripterus, Ctenochasma, Ornithocheirus, Gnathosaurus, Pteranodon, Ornithodesmus, Pterodaustro, Pterodactylus, Tropeognathus, and Quetzalcoatlus.
Flying Anurognathus
Anurognathus lived approximately one hundred and forty five million years ago. Up until today, there has only been a single skeleton of this flying dinosaur discovered, this was in Bavaria, Germany. Unfortunately, it is believed that the fossil record gives us a knowledge of less than a single per cent of all the dinosaurs that once roamed the earth.
Anurognathus was a small dinosaur, its body was around nine centimeters long, though it had a wingspan of fifty centimeters. It’s diet mostly consisted of insects such as lacewings and damselflies. Its deep and short skull had teeth that were needle like.
Batrachognathus is a species that was discovered in modern day Kazakhstan,
Anurognathus
It is thought that this dinosaur lived during the late Jurassic period. It has been categorized as belonging to the genus rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur. Very little is known about this aviator, apart from the fact that its upper jaw contained twenty four teeth.
Pterodactylus
The most famous of all the flying dinosaurs is Pterodactylus. The first remains of Pterodactylus was discovered by an Italian naturalist, Cosm Alessandro Collino, in Bavaria in 1784, though since then fossils have also been found throughout Africa and Europe. Its wingspan ranged from half a meter up to two and a half meters. The typical diet of Pterodactylus was fish and small rodents, and it mostly inhabited lake-shores. As many fossils of this species have been found, we know that externally it has keratinous ridges, and internally its body had collagen fibers.
Another aviator dinosaur of note was Quetzalcoatlus. Named after the Aztec
Quetzalcoatlus
serpent god, Quetzalcoatl, this species was a very large pterosaur, weighing in at around one hundred and thirty five kilograms. In fact, it is believed that Quetzalcoatlus was the largest ever flying animal. It had a big brain, large eyes, and usually nested close to fresh water ponds. The first fossilized remains of Quetzalcoatlus was discovered in Texas in 1971 by Douglas A Lawson.
There is still a lot of mystery about flying dinosaurs. Whether or not modern day birds evolved from these species is still a matter that is open to debate. As new fossils are being found every year, our knowledge of this subject will continue to grow.
