Dino card No. 0907 of 2,027

Jianchangnathus

Say it: jee-AN-chang-NAY-thus

Name means: “jaw from Jianchang County”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesMiddle Jurassic to Late JurassicNot technically a dinosaur

Jianchangnathus was a small flying reptile that soared over ancient China. It had a long tail and sharp teeth for catching fish. It was not a dinosaur, but a pterosaur, a cousin of dinosaurs.1 4

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

Lived

168 to 152 million years ago4

Middle Jurassic to Late Jurassic

Fossils found in

Liaoning Province, China, near Linglongta in Jianchang County.1 2

Wingspan

1.2 m (3.9 ft)3

largest known specimen

Top speed

about 39 km/h (24 mph)

Flying, estimate

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 tailcould fly across a whole football pitch in 9.7 seconds

How big was Jianchangnathus compared to YOU?

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

How fast was it?

A person walking about 5 km/h (3 mph)

A kid on a bike about 12 km/h (7 mph)

Jianchangnathus about 39 km/h (24 mph)

A galloping horse about 65 km/h (40 mph)

A cheetah about 100 km/h (62 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

Jianchangnathus had a big front branch on its cheekbone, which is a unique feature.1

The first three pairs of teeth in its lower jaw pointed strongly forward, helping it snatch fish.1

Its lower jaw had a convex, or bulging, top edge, which is different from many other pterosaurs.1

Scientists think its body was covered in fuzzy pycnofibers, and some fossils suggest these were brown.1

Jianchangnathus lived about 160 million years ago, during the Middle Jurassic period.1

It is closely related to Scaphognathus, a pterosaur from Germany, but Jianchangnathus lived in China.1 2

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

Ask Rex about Jianchangnathus

Rex only answers questions about this page. 10 questions a month.

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.

Myth buster

Myth: Some people think pterosaurs like Jianchangnathus were dinosaurs.

Truth: Pterosaurs were flying reptiles, not dinosaurs. They are a separate group of reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Jianchangnathus
Named by: Cheng et al. 20124
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Scaphognathidae4
Classification: Pterosauria4
Age of the rocks: 168 to 152 million years (Bathonian / Kimmeridgian)4
Rock formations: Tiaojishan4
Countries: China4
Fossil records: 3 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The first fossil was found near Linglongta, Jianchang County, China, and named by Cheng Xin and colleagues in 2012. A second, more complete skull was described in 2014.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure about the exact age of the rocks where Jianchangnathus was found. They might be from the Middle Jurassic or the Early Cretaceous.2

Where the facts come from

Jianchangnathus (en.wikipedia.org)
A new scaphognathid pterosaur from western Liaoning, China: Historical Biology: Vol 24, No 1 (web.archive.org)
Jianchangnathus robustus | Pterosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
Jianchangnathus 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