Dsungaripterus facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dsungaripterus Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous
Dsungaripterus weii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Pterosauria
Suborder:	Pterodactyloidea
Family:	Dsungaripteridae
Genus:	Dsungaripterus Young, 1964

Dsungaripterus, showing bony crest on skull

Dsungaripterus ("Wing of Junggar Basin") was a pterosaur with a wingspan of 10 feet (3 m). It had an unusual bony crest running along its snout and long, narrow, curved jaws with a pointed tip. The crest may have acted as a rudder when flying or may have been a secondary sex characteristic.

Dsungaripterus's head and neck were together almost a metre long. Its most notable feature are its long, narrow, upcurved jaws with a pointed tip, making the animal look like a pair of flying tweezers. It had no teeth in the front part of its jaws, which were probably used to remove shellfish and worms from cracks in rocks or from sandy, muddy beaches. It had knobbly flat teeth more to the back of the jaw that were well suited for crushing shellfish.

Images for kids

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  Restoration of Dsungaripterus (above) and the related Noripterus

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  Holotype specimen, Paleozoological Museum of China

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  Skull IVPP V4064, Paleozoological Museum of China

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  Skeletal reconstruction

See also

In Spanish: Dsungaripterus para niños