Dino card No. 0957 of 2,027

Kepodactylus

Say it: KEP-oh-DAK-tih-lus

Name means: “garden finger”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesLate Jurassic to Early CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Kepodactylus was a flying reptile that lived during the Late Jurassic period. It had a wingspan of about 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) and likely ate fish.1 2

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

Lived

149 to 143 million years ago3

Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Colorado, USA1 3

Food

Fish2

Wingspan

2.5 m1

Weight

10 kg1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How wide were its wings?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 2.5 house cats

wings as wide as 1.5 bicycles in a rowas heavy as 83 bananas

How big was Kepodactylus compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Kepodactylus was discovered in 1992 when scientists were digging up a Stegosaurus skeleton in Garden Park, Colorado. They found the pterosaur bones by accident.1

Its name means 'garden finger' because it was found in Garden Park and pterosaurs have a long wing finger.1

Kepodactylus had extra holes in its bones called pneumatic foramina. These holes let air from air sacs enter the bones, making them lighter for flying.1

Scientists think Kepodactylus weighed about 10 kilograms (22 pounds), which is as heavy as a large cat.1

Kepodactylus lived during the Late Jurassic period, about 149 to 143 million years ago.2

Only one specimen of Kepodactylus has been found, and it includes a neck bone, an upper arm bone, finger bones, and a foot bone.1 3

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

?Was Kepodactylus a dinosaur?

No, Kepodactylus was a pterosaur, a flying reptile that lived during the time of dinosaurs, but it was not a dinosaur itself.1

?How big was Kepodactylus?

Kepodactylus had a wingspan of about 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) and weighed around 10 kilograms (22 pounds), about as heavy as a medium sized dog.1

?What did Kepodactylus eat?

Kepodactylus likely ate fish, as many other pterosaurs with similar long jaws did.1

?Where was Kepodactylus found?

Kepodactylus was discovered in Garden Park, Colorado, in the United States, in rocks from the Late Jurassic period.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Kepodactylus
Named by: Harris and Carpenter 19963
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Lophocratia3
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea3
Age of the rocks: 149 to 143 million years (Tithonian)3
Rock formations: Morrison3
Countries: USA3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Kepodactylus was named by Jerald Harris and Kenneth Carpenter in 1996. The fossils were found in 1992 in Garden Park, Colorado, while digging up a Stegosaurus.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly which group of pterosaurs Kepodactylus belongs to. Some studies place it in the family Ctenochasmatidae, while others put it in a larger group called Lophocratia.1 2

Where the facts come from

Kepodactylus (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Kepodactylus 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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