Phosphatodraco
Phosphatodraco was a flying reptile that lived right at the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. It had a long, stiff neck and probably hunted for fish or small animals on land. This pterosaur is one of the last known flying reptiles before the big extinction 66 million years ago.1
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Fun facts
Phosphatodraco is known from five neck vertebrae and a few other bones, all found together in a phosphate mine.1
It was the first Late Cretaceous pterosaur ever discovered in North Africa.1
Its neck was long and stiff, which may have helped it hunt on land like a stork or ground hornbill.1
Phosphatodraco lived about 66 million years ago, right before the mass extinction that killed off all non-bird dinosaurs and many pterosaurs.1
The fossils were found in a layer of phosphate rock, which is why its name means 'dragon from the phosphates'.1
Scientists think Phosphatodraco was an azhdarchid, a group of pterosaurs that often had very long necks and walked on all fours.1
Most asked questions about Phosphatodraco
?How big was Phosphatodraco?
Its wingspan was about 5 metres (16 feet) according to one interpretation, or about 4 metres (13 feet) according to another. Scientists disagree because the bones are incomplete.1
?What did Phosphatodraco eat?
It probably ate fish, but some scientists think it also hunted small animals on land, like a stork. The debate is still going on.14
?How long was Phosphatodraco's neck?
Its complete neck may have been about 865 millimetres (0.86 metres) long. That is based on the five neck vertebrae that were found.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Some people think pterosaurs like Phosphatodraco were dinosaurs.
Truth: Pterosaurs were flying reptiles, not dinosaurs. They are a separate group of animals that lived at the same time as dinosaurs.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Phosphatodraco
- Named by
- Pereda Suberbiola et al. 20034
- Group
- Flying reptiles
- Family / clade
- Azhdarchidae4
- Classification
- Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea > Azhdarchidae4
- Age of the rocks
- 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)4
- Rock formations
- Couche III4
- Countries
- Morocco4
- Fossil records
- 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Phosphatodraco was discovered in 2000 by miners in a phosphate quarry in Morocco. It was named and described by paleontologist Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola and colleagues in 2003.1
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether azhdarchids like Phosphatodraco mainly ate fish from the water or hunted small animals on land.1
Where the facts come from
- Phosphatodraco (en.wikipedia.org)
- A new azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco (exa.ai)
- A new azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco (researchgate.net)
- Phosphatodraco in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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