Dino card No. 0112 of 2,027

Angustinaripterus

Say it: ang-GUS-tuh-NAR-ip-TEER-us

Name means: “narrow nostril wing”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesMiddle Jurassic to Late JurassicNot technically a dinosaur

Angustinaripterus was a flying reptile that lived in China during the Middle Jurassic. It had a long, flat skull and used its long, curved front teeth to snatch fish from the water.1

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

Lived

171 to 155 million years ago3

Middle Jurassic to Late Jurassic

Fossils found in

Dashanpu, near Zigong, Sichuan Province, China1 3

Wingspan

1.6 m (5.2 ft)1

estimated by Peter Wellnhofer in 1991

Top speed

about 43 km/h (27 mph)

Flying, estimate

What did Angustinaripterus eat?

It ate fish. Its long, curved front teeth formed a basket-like trap to snatch fish from the water.

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How wide were its wings?

as long as 3 house cats nose to tailcould fly across a whole football pitch in 8.8 seconds

How big was Angustinaripterus compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast was it?

A person walking about 5 km/h (3 mph)

A kid on a bike about 22 km/h (14 mph)

Angustinaripterus about 43 km/h (27 mph)

A galloping horse about 65 km/h (40 mph)

A cheetah about 100 km/h (62 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

Angustinaripterus is known from only a single skull and lower jaws, found in 1981.1

Its skull was very long and flat, with a low ridge on top only 2 to 3 millimeters high.1

The front teeth were long, curved, and pointed forward, forming a basket-like trap for fish.1

Its nostrils were long and slit-like, giving the pterosaur its name 'narrow nostril wing'.1

Angustinaripterus belonged to the Rhamphorhynchidae family, which included other long-tailed pterosaurs.1

The preserved part of the skull is 192 millimeters long, and the complete skull was probably about 201 millimeters.1

AI-made picture of Angustinaripterus — An AI-made picture of how Angustinaripterus 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 Angustinaripterus

?How big was Angustinaripterus?

Its wingspan was about 1.6 metres (5.2 feet). Its skull was about 201 millimetres (7.9 inches) long.1 2

?What did Angustinaripterus eat?

It ate fish. Its long, curved front teeth formed a basket-like trap to snatch fish from the water.1 2

?Where did Angustinaripterus live?

It lived in China, near Dashanpu in Sichuan province, during the Middle Jurassic period.1 2

?Is Angustinaripterus a dinosaur?

No, it is a pterosaur, a flying reptile that lived at the same time as dinosaurs but is not a dinosaur.1 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Angustinaripterus
Named by: He et al. 19833
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Rhamphorhynchidae3
Classification: Pterosauria > Rhamphorhynchidae3
Age of the rocks: 171 to 155 million years (Bajocian / Oxfordian)3
Rock formations: Shaximiao3
Countries: China3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Angustinaripterus was named in 1983 by He Xinlu, Yang Daihuan, and Su Chunkang. The only fossil, a skull with lower jaws, was found in 1981 by researchers from the Zigong Historical Museum of the Salt Industry.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure about the exact wingspan of Angustinaripterus because the only known fossil is a partial skull.1

Where the facts come from

Angustinaripterus (en.wikipedia.org)
PaleoCodex :: Angustinaripterus (paleocodex.com)
Angustinaripterus 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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