Dino card No. 0424 of 2,027

Cimoliopterus

Say it: SIM-oh-lee-OP-ter-us

Name means: “meaning 'chalk wing'”5

Ate: FishFlying reptilesLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Cimoliopterus was a flying reptile that soared over the seas during the time of the dinosaurs. It had a long, toothy snout and a thin crest on its beak. It probably caught fish by swooping down and snatching them from the water.5 1

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

Lived

100 to 90 million years ago5

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

England, United Kingdom and Texas, USA5 1

Food

Fish5 2

Wingspan

1.8 to 5 m3 1

estimates for different species; C. dunni ~1.8 m, C. cuvieri ~3.5 m, C. colorhinus specimen up to 5 m

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How wide were its wings?

wings as wide as 3 bicycles in a row

How big was Cimoliopterus compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Cimoliopterus had a thin crest on the top of its snout that started above the fourth pair of teeth.1

The tip of its snout was small and blunt, and the front of the upper jaw sloped downward at about a 45-degree angle.1

One species, Cimoliopterus dunni, was discovered in Texas and is the first North American record of this pterosaur genus.1

Cimoliopterus lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 100 to 94 million years ago.5 2

It had at least 26 teeth in its upper jaw, and the first pair pointed more downward than forward.1

Cimoliopterus is a pteranodontoid, a group of large, toothed pterosaurs that were good at flying over oceans.5 1

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

?How big was Cimoliopterus?

Cimoliopterus cuvieri had a wingspan of about 3.5 metres (11 feet), and Cimoliopterus dunni was similar in size. One Cimoliopterus specimen had a wingspan of about 5 metres (16 feet).3

?What did Cimoliopterus eat?

It probably ate fish. It may have flown over the water and dipped its long jaws in to catch fish with its interlocking teeth.3 4

?Could Cimoliopterus fly?

Yes, it was a flying reptile. It was probably good at long-distance soaring over oceans, and its fossils are mostly found in marine rocks.3

?Why did Cimoliopterus have a crest?

Scientists are not sure. Some think the crest helped steady its jaws in the water while fishing, but it may have been for display.3

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Cimoliopterus
Named by: Rodrigues and Kellner 20135
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Pteranodontoidea5
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea5
Age of the rocks: 100 to 90 million years (Cenomanian / Turonian)5
Rock formations: Britton5
Countries: United Kingdom, USA5
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: The genus Cimoliopterus was named in 2013 by paleontologists Taissa Rodrigues and Alexander Kellner based on fossils from England. A second species, Cimoliopterus dunni, was described in 2015 by Timothy Myers from a partial snout found in Texas.5 1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how large Cimoliopterus grew, because only parts of the skull have been found so far.1

Where the facts come from

First North American occurrence of the toothed pteranodontoid pterosaur Cimoliopterus: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology: Vol 35 , No 6 - Get Access (tandfonline.com)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Cimoliopterus (en.wikipedia.org)
New North American pterosaur is a Texan -- but flying reptile's closest cousin is English | EurekAlert! (eurekalert.org)
Cimoliopterus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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