Jidapterus
Jidapterus was a toothless flying reptile that lived in what is now China about 122 million years ago. It had a long, pointed beak and a wingspan as wide as a tall adult person. It probably walked on the ground a lot, like a stork, and ate small animals or maybe fruits.12
When did it live?
How big was it?
How wide were its wings?
as long as 3 house cats nose to tail⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 7.3 secondsHow big was Jidapterus compared to YOU?
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Fun facts
Jidapterus had no teeth. Its beak was long, straight, and very pointed, like a modern bird's beak.1
The only known skeleton of Jidapterus is nearly complete, with a partial skull. It belonged to a young individual that was not fully grown.2
Jidapterus belonged to a group called chaoyangopterids. These pterosaurs had long legs and compact feet, which helped them walk well on the ground.2
Scientists think Jidapterus was more at home on the ground than in trees. Its claws were not very curved, so it probably did not climb much.2
The name Jidapterus comes from Jilin University in China, where the scientists who named it worked. 'Pterus' means wing in Greek.1
Jidapterus lived alongside other pterosaurs like Chaoyangopterus and tapejarids. Tapejarids had parrot-like beaks and probably ate fruits and seeds.2


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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Jidapterus
- Named by
- Dong et al. 20033
- Group
- Flying reptiles
- Family / clade
- Tapejaridae3
- Classification
- Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea3
- Age of the rocks
- 121 to 113 million years (Aptian)3
- Rock formations
- Jiufotang3
- Countries
- China3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Jidapterus was named in 2003 by Dong Zhiming, Sun Yue-Wu, and Wu Shao-Yuan. The only skeleton was found in Chaoyang, Liaoning, China, in the Jiufotang Formation.13
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure exactly what Jidapterus ate. Some think it was a fish-eater, while others believe it ate small animals or even fruits and seeds.2
Where the facts come from
- en.wikipedia.org (en.wikipedia.org)
- The toothless pterosaur Jidapterus edentus (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea) from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota and its paleoecological implications | PLOS One (journals.plos.org)
- Jidapterus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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