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Mesadactylus

Name means: “mesa finger”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesLate JurassicNot technically a dinosaur

Mesadactylus was a small flying reptile that lived during the Late Jurassic period. It had a special backbone that was fused together, just like in birds. This pterosaur likely flew over the landscape of what is now Colorado, USA.1

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

Lived

152 to 145 million years ago3

Late Jurassic

Fossils found in

Colorado, USA3 1

Food

Fish3

Wingspan

1.5 to 1.8 m2

largest known specimen

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 4 house cats nose to tail

How big was Mesadactylus compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

The first fossil of Mesadactylus was a synsacrum, which is a set of seven back bones fused together. This fusion is more common in birds than in pterosaurs.1

The name Mesadactylus means 'mesa finger', referring to the Mesa region where it was found.1

Some scientists think that a larger pterosaur called Kepodactylus might actually be the same animal as Mesadactylus, but there are small differences.1

Mesadactylus lived about 152 to 145 million years ago, during the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian ages of the Late Jurassic.3

The first fossil was found at the Dry Mesa Quarry in Colorado, which is part of the Morrison Formation.1 3

In 2007, scientist S. Christopher Bennett suggested that the main fossil and other bones assigned to Mesadactylus might actually come from different kinds of pterosaurs.1

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

?Was Mesadactylus a dinosaur?

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

?How big was Mesadactylus?

The sources do not give a specific size for Mesadactylus, but it was a small pterosaur, as indicated by its small fossil remains.1

?What did Mesadactylus eat?

The sources do not describe what Mesadactylus ate, but as a small pterosaur it likely ate insects or small animals.1

?When did Mesadactylus live?

Mesadactylus lived during the Late Jurassic period, about 152 to 145 million years ago.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Mesadactylus
Named by: Jensen and Padian 19893
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Pterodactyloidea3
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea3
Age of the rocks: 152 to 145 million years (Kimmeridgian / Tithonian)3
Rock formations: Morrison3
Countries: USA3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Mesadactylus was named in 1989 by James Jensen and Kevin Padian. The first fossil, a synsacrum, was at first thought to be from a bird and was called Palaeopteryx.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if all the bones assigned to Mesadactylus really belong to the same animal. Some researchers think the main fossil might be from an anurognathid pterosaur, while other bones are from a pterodactyloid.1

Where the facts come from

Mesadactylus (en.wikipedia.org)
Mesadactylus ornithosphyos | Pterosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
Mesadactylus 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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