Dino card No. 0616 of 2,027

Epapatelo

Say it: eh-pah-pah-TEH-loh

Name means: “wing lizard”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Epapatelo was a flying reptile that lived near the coast of ancient Angola. It soared over the ocean and dove into the water to catch fish, just like a modern seabird.1

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

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Bentiaba, Namibe Province, Angola3 1

Food

Fish3 1

Wingspan

4.8 to 5.6 m2 1

holotype and paratype estimates

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 Epapatelo compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Epapatelo is known from only a few bones: a partial upper arm bone and two forearm bones from two different individuals.1

It lived about 71 to 72 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.1

Epapatelo belonged to a group of pterosaurs called pteranodontians, which were large, toothless flying reptiles.1

The fossils were found in marine rocks, showing that Epapatelo lived near the sea and probably died in the water.1

Epapatelo is one of the few pterosaurs ever found in Africa from the very end of the dinosaur age.1

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

?How big was Epapatelo?

About 4.8 to 5.6 metres (16 to 18 feet) across the wings, based on the two known individuals. Some other bones found in Angola suggest an even larger size.2

?What did Epapatelo eat?

It ate fish. Epapatelo was a piscivore that dove into the ocean to catch its food, much like a modern seabird.1

?When did Epapatelo live?

It lived about 71 to 72 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.2

?Where was Epapatelo found?

In Angola, near the coast of Namibe Province. The fossils were discovered in marine rocks at a site called Bentiaba.2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Epapatelo
Named by: Fernandes et al. 20223
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Aponyctosauria3
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea3
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Mocuio3
Countries: Angola3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Epapatelo was named in 2022 by a team of scientists led by Alexandra Fernandes. The fossils were found in the Namibe desert of Angola during the Projecto PaleoAngola expeditions.3 1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure how big Epapatelo was, because only a few arm bones have been found.1

Where the facts come from

Pterosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of Angola (mdpi.com)
Epapatelo (en.wikipedia.org)
Epapatelo 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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