Dino card No. 0572 of 2,027

Elanodactylus

Say it: el-AN-oh-DAK-til-us

Name means: “kite finger”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesEarly CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Elanodactylus was a pterosaur, a flying reptile that lived during the Early Cretaceous. It had long, slim wings like a kite and a wingspan of about 2.5 metres (8.2 feet). It probably flew over lakes and rivers, scooping up fish to eat.1 2

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

Lived

126 to 120 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Liaoning Province, China1 2

Food

Fish3

Wingspan

2.5 m1

Weight

10 kg1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

wings as wide as 1.5 bicycles in a rowas heavy as 2.5 house catsas heavy as 83 bananas

How big was Elanodactylus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Elanodactylus had neck vertebrae that looked like those of azhdarchids, the giant pterosaurs from the Late Cretaceous. But scientists think these similar neck bones evolved separately in both groups, a case of convergent evolution.1 2

The first bone in its wing finger was shorter than the second and third bones. This is a unique feature that helps identify Elanodactylus.1

Elanodactylus is the largest known member of its group, the archaeopterodactyloids. Its wingspan was about 2.5 metres (8.2 feet).2

The name Elanodactylus comes from the Greek words for 'kite' and 'finger', because its long, thin wings reminded scientists of a kite bird.1

Elanodactylus lived around 125 to 119 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period. Its fossils were found in the Yixian Formation in China.3 1

AI-made picture of Elanodactylus — An AI-made picture of how Elanodactylus 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.

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Elanodactylus
Named by: Andres and Ji 20083
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Lophocratia3
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea3
Age of the rocks: 126 to 120 million years (Barremian / Aptian)3
Rock formations: Yixian3
Countries: China3
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Elanodactylus was named in 2008 by Brian Andres and Ji Qiang. The first fossil, a partial skeleton without a skull, was found in the Sihetun Basin in Liaoning, China.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether the long neck bones of Elanodactylus evolved for the same reason as in azhdarchids, or if they were used differently.1 2

Where the facts come from

Elanodactylus (en.wikipedia.org)
A NEW PTEROSAUR FROM THE LIAONING PROVINCE OF CHINA, THE PHYLOGENY OF THE PTERODACTYLOIDEA, AND CONVERGENCE IN THEIR CERVICAL VERTEBRAE - ANDRES - 2008 - Palaeontology - Wiley Online Library (onlinelibrary.wiley.com)
Elanodactylus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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