Dino card No. 0496 of 2,027

Dawndraco

Say it: dawn-DRAY-ko KAN-zai

Name means: “dawn dragon of the Kanza tribe”1 2

Ate: FishFlying reptilesLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Dawndraco was a flying reptile with a very long, straight beak that did not taper like other pteranodonts. It soared over the ancient sea that covered Kansas about 86 million years ago, scooping up fish.1 2

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

Lived

90 to 84 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Utica, Kansas, USA3 1

Food

Fish3 1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Dawndraco is known from only one partial skeleton, including an almost complete skull and lower jaws.1 2

Its snout did not taper like in other pteranodonts; the upper and lower edges ran almost parallel.1 2

The name Dawndraco combines the Iroquois dawn goddess with the Latin word for dragon.1 2

The species name kanzai honors the Kanza (Kaw) tribe, after which Kansas is named.1 2

Dawndraco lived about 86 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.1 2

The fossil was found in the Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Formation, which was once the floor of a shallow sea.1 2

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

?Is Dawndraco a dinosaur?

No, Dawndraco is a pterosaur, a flying reptile that is not a dinosaur.1

?How big was Dawndraco?

The exact size is not known from the sources, but it was a pteranodontid pterosaur with a wingspan likely similar to other pteranodonts, around 4 to 6 metres (13 to 20 feet).1

?What did Dawndraco eat?

Dawndraco ate fish, which it scooped up while soaring over the ancient sea.1

?Why is Dawndraco controversial?

Some scientists think Dawndraco is not a separate genus but just a young male Pteranodon sternbergi, so its status is debated.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Dawndraco is definitely a separate genus from Pteranodon.

Truth: Many scientists think Dawndraco is actually a young male of Pteranodon sternbergi (also called Geosternbergia), not a distinct genus.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Dawndraco
Named by: Kellner 20103
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Pteranodontidae3
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea > Pteranodontidae3
Age of the rocks: 90 to 84 million years (Coniacian / Santonian)3
Rock formations: Niobrara3
Countries: USA3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: The only known Dawndraco fossil was found in 1974 by Richard C. Fox and Allen Lindoe in Utica, Kansas. It was named by Alexander W.A. Kellner in 2010.1 2
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Dawndraco is a valid genus or just a young Pteranodon sternbergi.1

Where the facts come from

Dawndraco (en.wikipedia.org)
Brasil - Comments on the Pteranodontidae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) with the description of two new species Comments on the Pteranodontidae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) with the description of two new species (scielo.br)
Dawndraco in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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