Dino card No. 0242 of 2,027

Barbosania

Say it: bar-bo-SAN-ee-uh

Name means: “Barbosa's (named after Professor Miguel Barbosa) slender snout”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesEarly CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Barbosania was a flying reptile that soared over ancient seas. It had a long, slender snout and no crest on its head. It used its sharp teeth to catch slippery fish.1

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

Lived

120 to 113 million years ago2

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Northeastern Brazil, in the Romualdo Formation of the Santana Group.1

Food

Fish2 1

Length

0.2095 m1

body length (skull not included)

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How big was Barbosania compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Barbosania had no crest on its snout or head, which is unusual for its group.1

It had 13 back vertebrae, while most related pterosaurs had 12.1

Its skull was about 392 millimetres (15.4 inches) long, and its body was about 209.5 millimetres (8.2 inches) long.1

The first four pairs of teeth were very long, forming a basket-like trap for slippery prey.1

It had at least 24 teeth in the upper jaw and 20 in the lower jaw, for a total of 88 teeth.1

The fossil was probably from a subadult, but some bones were fused, which is confusing.1

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

?How big was Barbosania?

Its skull was about 392 millimetres (15.4 inches) long and its body was about 209.5 millimetres (8.2 inches) long. It was a medium-sized pterosaur.1

?Did Barbosania have a crest?

No, Barbosania had no crest on its snout or head. This is unusual for its group and helps tell it apart from other pterosaurs.1

?What did Barbosania eat?

It ate slippery prey like fish or squids. Its first four pairs of teeth were very long and formed a basket-like trap to catch them.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Barbosania is a dinosaur because it lived long ago and had teeth.

Truth: Barbosania is a pterosaur, a flying reptile, not a dinosaur.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Barbosania
Named by: Elgin and Frey 20112
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Ornithocheiridae2
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea2
Age of the rocks: 120 to 113 million years (Aptian)2
Rock formations: Crato, Romualdo2
Countries: Brazil2
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: Barbosania was named by Ross A. Elgin and Eberhard Frey in 2011. The fossil was bought from fossil poachers and is now in a museum in Portugal.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Barbosania was fully grown, because some bones were fused but others were not.1

Where the facts come from

Barbosania (en.wikipedia.org)
Barbosania 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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