Ferrodraco facts for kids

Ferrodraco lentoni was a type of pterosaur, which was a flying reptile that lived long ago. Its name means "Lenton's Iron Dragon." The only known fossil of this amazing creature was found in 2017. It was discovered in Winton, Queensland, Australia.

This pterosaur had a large wingspan of about four metres. When it was on the ground, it walked on all four of its limbs. The name Ferrodraco comes from two Latin words. Ferrum means "iron" because the fossil was found in ironstone. Draco means "dragon". The second part of its name, lentoni, honors Graham Thomas 'Butch' Lenton. He was the mayor of Winton.

Discovery of Ferrodraco

Only small pieces of about 15 different pterosaurs have been found in Australia. Ferrodraco is the most complete fossil specimen discovered so far. Scientists were able to find many parts of this ancient animal. They identified five vertebrae (backbones), eight limb bones, a large part of its jaw and skull, and 40 teeth.

Scientists believe that Ferrodraco lived around 96 million years ago. This time period is known as the Upper Cretaceous. The fossil of Ferrodraco is similar to pterosaurs found in England. However, it has much smaller teeth. This difference might mean that it ate different kinds of food, possibly a diet mainly of fish. Pterosaur bones were very thin and hollow. Because of this, very few of their fossils have survived over millions of years.

The area around Winton is famous for finding dinosaur fossils. But Ferrodraco was the first pterosaur ever discovered there.

Images for kids

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  Holotype specimen of Ferrodraco (A) compared to the holotypes of Mythunga (B) and Aussiedraco (C)

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  Life restoration

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  Skull and mandible of Ferrodraco in different angles (left), and schematic diagram (right)

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  Palate of Ferrodraco (A) compared to the palates of Tropeognathus (B) and Siroccopteryx (C), all of them are in occlusal view

See also

In Spanish: Ferrodraco para niños