Aussiedraco
Aussiedraco was a flying reptile that soared over the ancient seas of Australia about 105 million years ago. It had a long, toothy beak and likely snatched fish from the water. Only a piece of its lower jaw has been found, but that was enough for scientists to name it a new species.21
When did it live?
How fast was it?
Fun facts
Aussiedraco is only the second pterosaur ever named from Australia.3
Its name means 'Australian dragon', 'Aussie' is a nickname for Australian, and 'draco' is Latin for dragon.1
The only known fossil is a piece of the lower jaw, called a mandibular symphysis, that is 88 mm long.1
The jaw has five tooth sockets on each side, and one still held a tiny replacement tooth.1
Aussiedraco lived during the Albian age of the Early Cretaceous, about 106 to 100 million years ago.2
Most asked questions about Aussiedraco
?How big was Aussiedraco?
Nobody knows for sure because only a piece of its lower jaw, 88 mm long, has been found. Scientists cannot estimate its full size from just that fragment.41
?What did Aussiedraco eat?
Aussiedraco likely ate fish. Its long, toothy beak and the way its teeth could interlock suggest it snatched fish from the water.4
?When did Aussiedraco live?
Aussiedraco lived during the Early Cretaceous, about 105 to 100 million years ago, in the Albian age.4
?Is Aussiedraco a dinosaur?
No. Aussiedraco is a pterosaur, a flying reptile, not a dinosaur.4
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Aussiedraco
- Named by
- Kellner et al. 20115
- Group
- Flying reptiles
- Family / clade
- Pteranodontoidea5
- Classification
- Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea5
- Age of the rocks
- 106 to 100 million years (Albian)5
- Rock formations
- Toolebuc5
- Countries
- Australia5
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
- Discovery
- The fossil was first reported in 1980 by Ralph Molnar and others, who thought it belonged to a pterosaur from England. In 2011, scientists Alexander Kellner, Taissa Rodrigues and Fabiana Costa studied it again and named it Aussiedraco molnari after Molnar.13
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure exactly how big Aussiedraco was, because only a piece of its jaw has been found.1
Where the facts come from
- Short note on a pteranodontoid pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea) from western Queensland, Australia (scielo.br)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Short note on a Pteranodontoid pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea) from western Queensland, Australia (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Aussiedraco (en.wikipedia.org)
- Aussiedraco in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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