Dino card No. 1105 of 2,027

Maaradactylus

Say it: MAH-rah-DAK-tih-lus

Name means: “Maara's finger, from a folk tale about a river monster with long teeth that ate fishermen”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesEarly CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Maaradactylus was a flying reptile with a long, tooth-filled snout and a tall crest on its head. It glided over the ancient sea in what is now Brazil, scooping up fish with its many sharp teeth. Its wings were long and thin, perfect for soaring above the water.1

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

Lived

120 to 113 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Santana do Cariri, Ceará, northeastern Brazil1 4

Food

Fish4

Wingspan

6 m3

estimate

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How wide were its wings?

wings as wide as 3 bicycles in a row

How big was Maaradactylus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

The skull of Maaradactylus is one of the largest of any anhanguerid pterosaur, measuring 75 centimetres (30 inches) long.1

It had at least 36 pairs of teeth in its upper jaw, more than any other anhanguerid pterosaur.1

The tip of its snout was expanded and rounded, a bit like a spoon, and the front teeth pointed forward while the rest pointed downward.1

Maaradactylus lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 119 to 113 million years ago.4

The small teeth at the back of its mouth were arranged in triplets, a feature unique to this animal.1

The crest on its snout was about 9.2 centimetres (3.6 inches) tall and had grooves that may have held blood vessels.1 2

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

?Was Maaradactylus a dinosaur?

No, Maaradactylus was a pterosaur, a flying reptile that lived during the time of dinosaurs. It is not a dinosaur.1

?How big was Maaradactylus?

Its skull was 75 centimetres long, one of the largest of any anhanguerid pterosaur. The rest of its body is not known, but it was a large flying animal.1

?What did Maaradactylus eat?

It likely ate fish, scooping them up with its long, tooth-filled snout as it glided over the sea.1

?When did Maaradactylus live?

It lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 119 to 113 million years ago, in what is now Brazil.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Maaradactylus
Named by: Bantim et al. 20144
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Anhangueridae4
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea4
Age of the rocks: 120 to 113 million years (Aptian)4
Rock formations: Romualdo4
Countries: Brazil4
Fossil records: 3 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The first fossil, a skull with the first two neck bones, was found in 2010 in the Romualdo Formation of Brazil. It was named Maaradactylus kellneri in 2014 by Renan Bantim and colleagues, honoring pterosaur expert Alexander Kellner.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if the species once called Coloborhynchus spielbergi really belongs to Maaradactylus or to another genus like Anhanguera.1

Where the facts come from

Maaradactylus (en.wikipedia.org)
A new toothed pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Anhangueridae) from the Early Cretaceous Romualdo Formation, NE Brazil (mapress.com)
Maaradactylus kellneri - Atlas Virtual da Pré-História (atlasvirtual.com.br)
Maaradactylus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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