Dino card No. 0783 of 2,027

Haopterus

Say it: HAY-op-TEER-us

Name means: “Hao's wing, named after Professor Hao Yichun”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesEarly CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Haopterus was a flying reptile that lived about 124 million years ago. It had a long, pointed snout full of sharp teeth, and it probably soared over the sea to catch fish.1

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, China (Yixian Formation)1 3

Food

Fish1 3

Wingspan

1.35 m1

estimated for the type individual

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How wide were its wings?

as long as 2.5 house cats nose to tail

How big was Haopterus compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Haopterus was the first pterosaur fossil from China to preserve a complete skull.1 2

Its skull was about 14.5 centimeters (5.7 inches) long, and it had 12 pairs of teeth in both the upper and lower jaws.1

The first three pairs of teeth in the front of its mouth were very small, and scientists think they might have been newly erupted replacement teeth.1

Haopterus had a fan-shaped breastbone with a strong keel, which helped anchor the muscles for flying.1

Its hind legs were weak, and its foot bones were very short, so scientists think it walked on all fours when on the ground.1

The fossil was found in 1998 at the Sihetun locality, and the rock layer was dated to 124.6 million years old.1

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

?How big was Haopterus?

Its wingspan was about 1.35 metres (4.43 feet). Its skull was 14.5 centimetres (5.7 inches) long.1

?What did Haopterus eat?

It probably ate fish. Scientists think it was a piscivore, meaning it caught fish while soaring over the sea.1

?Did Haopterus have a crest on its head?

No, it did not. Its skull was low and lacked a crest.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Haopterus was a dinosaur because it lived with dinosaurs.

Truth: Haopterus was a pterosaur, a flying reptile that is not a dinosaur.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Haopterus
Named by: Wang and Lü 20013
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Mimodactylidae3
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea3
Age of the rocks: 126 to 120 million years (Barremian / Aptian)3
Rock formations: Yixian3
Countries: China3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Haopterus was named by Wang Xiaolin and Lü Junchang in 2001. The fossil, found in 1998 at Sihetun in China, was the first Chinese pterosaur with a preserved skull.1 2
Still debated: Scientists debate whether Haopterus was a specialized fish-eater or if it also ate other small animals, like its close relative Mimodactylus, which may have eaten crustaceans.1

Where the facts come from

Haopterus (en.wikipedia.org)
Discovery of a pterodactylid pterosaur from the Yixian Formation of western Liaoning,China - 论文文献免费下载 - 皮皮文库 (ppdoc.com)
Haopterus 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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