Dino card No. 1298 of 2,027

Nyctosaurus

Say it: NICK-toe-SORE-us

Name means: “night lizard”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesEarly Cretaceous to Late CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Nyctosaurus was a flying reptile that lived over a shallow sea. It had huge wings like an albatross and a giant antler-like crest on its head. It spent almost all its time in the air, rarely landing.1

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

Lived

110 to 66 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Kansas, USA, and possibly Brazil and Mexico1 4

Food

Fish4

Length

0.376 m1

body length

Wingspan

2 to 2.9 m1

estimates vary; one dubious species may have reached 4 m

Weight

1.86 kg to 4.01 kg1 2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 1 house cats

about as heavy as a house catas heavy as 33 bananas

How big was Nyctosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Nyctosaurus had no claws on its wings, so it could not climb trees or cliffs. It probably spent almost its whole life flying.1

Some Nyctosaurus had a huge antler-like crest on its head, bigger than its skull.1

Nyctosaurus was a close relative of Pteranodon, but much smaller. Its wingspan was only about 2 to 3 meters (6.6 to 9.8 feet).1

It lived about 85 to 84.5 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous. That is a short time compared to its relative Pteranodon.1

Nyctosaurus fossils are found in rocks that were once the bottom of a shallow sea called the Western Interior Seaway.1

Scientists think Nyctosaurus flew like a modern albatross, soaring long distances without flapping much.1

The first Nyctosaurus fossil was named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1876. He first thought it was a species of Pteranodon.1

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

?What did Nyctosaurus eat?

It ate fish. Nyctosaurus was a piscivore (fish-eater) that soared over the sea and caught fish with its long, pointed beak.1 3

?How big was Nyctosaurus?

Nyctosaurus was a mid-sized pterosaur with a wingspan of about 2 to 3 metres (6.6 to 9.8 feet). Its body was about 38 centimetres (1.2 feet) long and it weighed around 1.9 kilograms (4.1 pounds).1

?Did Nyctosaurus have teeth?

No, Nyctosaurus had no teeth. Its jaws were long, pointed and beak-like, perfect for catching fish.3

?Why did Nyctosaurus have a crest?

Scientists think the huge antler-like crest was used for display, like a peacock's tail, to attract mates or show off. It was not used for flying.1

?Could Nyctosaurus walk on land?

It probably could not walk well. Nyctosaurus had no claws on its wings and its hand bones were very reduced, so it likely spent almost its whole life flying and rarely landed.1 3

?Is Nyctosaurus a dinosaur?

No, Nyctosaurus is a pterosaur, a flying reptile that lived at the same time as dinosaurs but is not a dinosaur itself.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Nyctosaurus is a dinosaur.

Truth: Nyctosaurus is a pterosaur, a flying reptile that is not a dinosaur.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Nyctosaurus
Named by: (Marsh 1876)4
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Pterodactyloidea4
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea4
Age of the rocks: 110 to 66 million years (Albian / Maastrichtian)4
Rock formations: Niobrara, Tlayúa, Gramame4
Countries: USA, Mexico, Brazil4
Fossil records: 10 in the Paleobiology Database4
Also known as: Nyctodactylus (older names now counted as the same animal)4
Discovery: The first Nyctosaurus fossils were found in Kansas, USA, and described by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1876. He originally called it Pteranodon gracilis, but later gave it its own name Nyctosaurus.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure how many species of Nyctosaurus really existed. Some species may actually belong to other pterosaur groups.1

Where the facts come from

Nyctosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Nyctosaurus - Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org)
Nyctosaurus — Pteros (pteros.com)
Nyctosaurus 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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