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Batrachognathus

Say it: bat-rak-og-NATH-us

Name means: “frog jaw”5

Ate: FishFlying reptilesLate JurassicNot technically a dinosaur

Batrachognathus was a small flying reptile that lived during the Jurassic period. It had a short, wide head like a frog and probably snapped up fish from lakes.5 1

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

Lived

162 to 155 million years ago5

Late Jurassic

Fossils found in

Kazakhstan, at the Aulie locality in the Karatau Mountains5 2

Food

Fish5 1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Batrachognathus means 'frog jaw' because its skull was short and wide, just like a frog's mouth.5

It lived about 161 to 155 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic period.2

Its fossils were found in very fine-grained shale, which was once the mud at the bottom of a large mountain lake.2

Scientists think Batrachognathus was a piscivore, meaning it mostly ate fish.5 1

Only a few fossils have been found, including a well-preserved skull and some crushed bones.2

Batrachognathus belonged to a group of pterosaurs called Anurognathidae, which were small and often had short tails.5

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

?How big was Batrachognathus?

It was small, with a wingspan of about 50 to 75 centimetres and a body mass of around 40 grams.3 4

?What did Batrachognathus eat?

It likely ate insects and maybe small fish, catching them in its wide mouth while flying.3 1

?When did Batrachognathus live?

It lived during the Late Jurassic period, about 161 to 155 million years ago.3 5

?Where was Batrachognathus found?

Its fossils were found in the Karatau Mountains of Kazakhstan, in rocks that were once the mud at the bottom of a mountain lake.3 5

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Batrachognathus
Named by: Riabinin 19485
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Anurognathidae5
Classification: Pterosauria5
Age of the rocks: 162 to 155 million years (Oxfordian)5
Rock formations: Karabastau5
Countries: Kazakhstan5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Batrachognathus was named by Russian paleontologist A. N. Riabinin in 1948, based on fossils found in the Karatau Mountains of Kazakhstan.5

Where the facts come from

Batrachognathus Ryabinin 1948 - Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org)
PBDB Collection (paleobiodb.org)
Batrachognathus (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia)
PaleoCodex :: Batrachognathus (paleocodex.com)
Batrachognathus 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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