Dino card No. 0281 of 2,027

Bogolubovia

Say it: bo-go-LOO-boh-vee-ah

Ate: FishFlying reptilesLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Bogolubovia was a flying reptile that soared over the seas of ancient Russia. It had a long neck and sharp beak for catching fish. It was not a dinosaur, but a pterosaur, a close cousin of dinosaurs.1 2

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

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Fossils were found in the Rybushka Formation at Malaya Serdoba locality in Penza Province, Russia.2

Food

Fish1 1

Wingspan

3 to 4.3 m3

estimate from holotype and later radius

Weight

259 kg to 544 kg1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How wide were its wings?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 18 big dogs

wings as wide as 2.5 bicycles in a rowas heavy as 110 watermelons

How big was Bogolubovia compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Bogolubovia was the first pterosaur ever described from Russia, known for over a hundred years from just one neck bone.2

Scientists used to think Bogolubovia was an azhdarchid, but now they think it was a pteranodontid, based on new bone details.2

The second known fossil, an atlantoaxis bone, shows special features that help tell it apart from other pteranodontids like Pteranodon.2

Bogolubovia lived about 83 to 72 million years ago, during the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous.1

Its bones were hollow and filled with air, which helped it fly, just like modern birds.1

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

?How big was Bogolubovia?

It was a mid-sized pterosaur with a wingspan of about 3 to 4 metres (9.8 to 13.1 ft), and a later bone suggests up to 4.3 metres (14.1 ft).3

?What did Bogolubovia eat?

It ate fish, catching them with its sharp beak while flying over the sea.4

?When did Bogolubovia live?

It lived about 83 to 72 million years ago, during the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous.4

Ask Rex about Bogolubovia

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Bogolubovia was a dinosaur because it lived with dinosaurs.

Truth: Bogolubovia was a pterosaur, a flying reptile, not a dinosaur. Pterosaurs are a separate group of reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Bogolubovia
Named by: Nessov and Yarkov 19894
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Azhdarchidae4
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea > Azhdarchidae4
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)4
Rock formations: Rybushka4
Countries: Russia4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The first fossil, a neck bone, was found in 1914 and named by Bogoliubow. Later, in 1989, Nessov and Yarkov gave it the name Bogolubovia.1 2
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Bogolubovia is a valid genus or just a name for bones that might belong to another pterosaur, because only two neck bones are known.1 2

Where the facts come from

PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
A new specimen of pteranodontid pterosaur Bogolubovia orientalis from the upper cretaceous of Penza Province, Russia (tandfonline.com)
Bogolubovia (en.wikipedia.org)
Bogolubovia 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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