Dino card No. 1036 of 2,027

Leptostomia

Say it: lep-toh-STOH-mee-uh

Name means: “slender mouth”1

Ate: InsectsFlying reptilesLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Leptostomia was a tiny pterosaur with a very long, thin beak. It used its beak like a straw to poke into mud and grab worms or bugs. It lived in what is now Morocco, near rivers and mangroves.1 2

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

Lived

100 to 94 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Morocco, near the oasis village Hassi El Begaa1 4

Food

Insects1 2

Length

0.06 to 0.2 m1

estimated skull length, not total body length

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How big was Leptostomia compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Leptostomia is known from only two beak fragments, one upper and one lower jaw.1

Its beak was flattened from top to bottom, which is different from any other known pterosaur.1 2

Scientists think Leptostomia used its beak like a kiwi bird or a curlew to probe for food in mud.1 2

Leptostomia lived about 100 to 94 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.4

It was much smaller than many other pterosaurs that lived at the same time.1

The fossils were found in the Kem Kem Beds, which were once a river system with mangroves and tidal flats.1

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

?How big was Leptostomia?

Leptostomia was very small. Its complete skull was only about 6 to 20 centimeters (2.4 to 7.9 inches) long.1

?What did Leptostomia eat?

Leptostomia probably ate small invertebrates like worms, crabs, and molluscs. It used its long, flat beak to probe into mud, just like a kiwi bird does.1 3

?When did Leptostomia live?

Leptostomia lived during the Cretaceous period, about 100 to 94 million years ago.1

?Where was Leptostomia found?

Leptostomia fossils were found in Morocco, near the town of Hassi El Begaa. They came from the Kem Kem Beds, which were once a river system with mangroves and tidal flats.1

Ask Rex about Leptostomia

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: Leptostomia
Named by: Smith et al. 20204
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Azhdarchoidea4
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea4
Age of the rocks: 100 to 94 million years (Cenomanian)4
Rock formations: Ifezouane4
Countries: Morocco4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Leptostomia was named in 2021 by paleontologists Roy E. Smith, David Martill, Alexander Kao, Samir Zouhri, and Nicholas Longrich. The fossils were found near the village of Hassi El Begaa in Morocco.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly which group of pterosaurs Leptostomia belongs to. It is probably an azhdarchoid, but it does not fit neatly into any known family.1 2

Where the facts come from

Leptostomia (en.wikipedia.org)
A long-billed, possible probe-feeding pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: ?Azhdarchoidea) from the mid-Cretaceous of Morocco, North Africa (researchportal.port.ac.uk)
A long-billed, probe-feeding pterosaur (pure.port.ac.uk)
Leptostomia 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