Dino card No. 0779 of 2,027

Hamipterus

Say it: ham-IP-ter-us

Name means: “Hami wing”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesEarly CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Hamipterus was a flying reptile with a wingspan as wide as a car! It lived in a big lake area in China and ate fish. Hundreds of Hamipterus fossils were found together, including eggs and soft parts like skin.1 2

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

Lived

137 to 133 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Xinjiang, China (Hami region, Shengjinkou Formation)1 3

Food

Fish3 1

Wingspan

1.5 to 3.5 m1

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 2 bicycles in a row

How big was Hamipterus compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Hamipterus fossils were found in huge numbers, probably from a nesting colony that was buried by a storm. Over 40 individuals were collected, and there may have been hundreds.1

Unlike most pterosaurs, Hamipterus bones are three-dimensional and not squashed flat. Scientists even found the horny sheaths that covered its head crests.1

Five uncrushed eggs were found with the Hamipterus fossils. That is very rare for pterosaurs.1

Hamipterus had a hook-shaped bony process on the tip of its lower jaw, which scientists think helped it grab slippery fish.3

Male and female Hamipterus looked different. The paratype skull is thought to be from a male, while the holotype is probably a female.1

The tooth enamel of Hamipterus was very thin, only covering about half of each tooth crown.1

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

?How big was Hamipterus?

Hamipterus had a wingspan of 1.5 to 3.5 metres, which is about as wide as a small car.1

?Did Hamipterus have feathers?

No, Hamipterus was a pterosaur, a flying reptile, not a dinosaur. Pterosaurs did not have feathers; they had a fur-like covering called pycnofibers.1

?What did Hamipterus eat?

Hamipterus ate fish. It had a hook-shaped bony process on the tip of its lower jaw that helped it grab slippery fish.1

Ask Rex about Hamipterus

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

For dino experts

Scientific name: Hamipterus
Named by: Wang et al. 20144
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Pteranodontoidea4
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea4
Age of the rocks: 137 to 133 million years (Valanginian)4
Rock formations: Shengjinkou4
Countries: China4
Fossil records: 4 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Hamipterus was named in 2014 by Wang Xiaolin and a team of scientists. The fossils were found in the Hami region of Xinjiang, China, starting in 2006.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly where Hamipterus fits in the pterosaur family tree. It may be close to Istiodactylus, Ludodactylus, or the Anhangueridae.1

Where the facts come from

Hamipterus (en.wikipedia.org)
The first dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Hami Pterosaur Fauna, China (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Hamipterus 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.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex