Dino card No. 0057 of 2,027

Albadraco

Say it: al-ba-DRAK-oh

Name means: “dragon of Alba County”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Albadraco was a large flying reptile that lived on an ancient island in what is now Romania. It had a long beak like a stork and probably swooped down to catch fish from rivers and lakes.1 3

Fun fact: pterosaurs flew over the dinosaurs, but they were their cousins, not dinosaurs themselves.

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Oarda de Jos, Alba County, Romania3 1

Food

Fish3

Wingspan

5 to 7 m2 1

holotype wingspan 5, 6 m, adult estimated 6, 7 m

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How wide were its wings?

wings as wide as 4 bicycles in a row

How big was Albadraco compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Albadraco was an azhdarchid pterosaur, a group that includes some of the largest flying animals ever.1

Its fossils were found together in a single spot: two beak fragments and a neck bone from the same individual.1

Albadraco lived on 'Hațeg Island', a real island in the Cretaceous period, which was home to dwarf dinosaurs and giant pterosaurs.1

This pterosaur was not fully grown when it died, so adults might have been even larger.1

Albadraco was a medium-sized azhdarchid, bigger than Eurazhdarcho but smaller than the giant Hatzegopteryx.1

Its beak had no teeth, like other azhdarchids, and had tiny holes (foramina) on the surface.1

AI-made picture of Albadraco — An AI-made picture of how Albadraco might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Albadraco

?How big was Albadraco?

Albadraco had a wingspan of about 5 to 6 metres (16 to 20 feet) based on its fossils, and adults may have reached 6 to 7 metres (20 to 23 feet).2

?When did Albadraco live?

Albadraco lived during the latest Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous, about 66 million years ago.2

?What did Albadraco eat?

Albadraco had a long, toothless beak like a stork and probably swooped down to catch fish from rivers and lakes.2

?Was Albadraco a dinosaur?

No, Albadraco was a pterosaur, a flying reptile, not a dinosaur.2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Albadraco
Named by: Solomon et al. 20203
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Azhdarchidae3
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea > Azhdarchidae3
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Şard3
Countries: Romania3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Albadraco was named in 2020 by Solomon, Codrea, Venczel and Grellet-Tinner from fossils found at Oarda de Jos in Romania.3 1
Still debated: Scientists debate whether Albadraco might be a young Hatzegopteryx, but the 2020 study concluded it is a separate species.1

Where the facts come from

A new species of large-sized pterosaur from the Maastrichtian of Transylvania (Romania) (sciencedirect.com)
Albadraco (en.wikipedia.org)
Albadraco in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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