Dino card No. 1469 of 2,027

Preondactylus

Say it: pray-on-DAK-tih-lus

Name means: “Preone finger”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesLate TriassicNot technically a dinosaur

Preondactylus was a small flying reptile that soared over the lagoons of ancient Italy. It had short wings and a long tail, and it was one of the earliest pterosaurs ever to take to the skies.1

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

Lived

215 to 206 million years ago3

Late Triassic

Fossils found in

Italy, in the Preone valley of the Italian Alps and other sites in northern Italy.1 2

Food

Fish1 3

Wingspan

0.45 to 1.5 m1

The holotype had a wingspan of 45 cm, while a larger referred specimen is estimated at 1.5 m.

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 3 house cats nose to tail

How big was Preondactylus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

The first Preondactylus fossil was accidentally broken into pieces when it was being collected, and then the bone was washed away by water, leaving only an imprint in the rock.1

A second Preondactylus fossil was found inside what scientists think is the vomit of a fish that ate the pterosaur.1

Preondactylus had teeth with just one point, and they were so widely spaced that they did not touch each other, so there was no tooth wear.1

Its short wings are considered a primitive feature, but Preondactylus was still a fully capable flier.1

The fossil was found in a type of rock called dolomitic limestone, which is very hard and often preserves delicate bones.1

Some scientists think Preondactylus might be the most primitive pterosaur, but others are not so sure.1 2

AI-made picture of Preondactylus — An AI-made picture of how Preondactylus 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.

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Myth buster

Myth: Preondactylus was a dinosaur.

Truth: Preondactylus was a pterosaur, a flying reptile that is a close cousin of dinosaurs, but not a dinosaur itself.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Preondactylus
Named by: Wild 19843
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Pterosauria3
Classification: Pterosauria3
Age of the rocks: 215 to 206 million years (Norian)3
Rock formations: Dolomia di Forni3
Countries: Italy3
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Preondactylus was discovered by Nando Buffarini in 1982 near Udine in the Italian Alps. It was named and described by Rupert Wild in 1984.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Preondactylus was the most primitive pterosaur, and whether its diet was mainly fish, insects, or both.1 2

Where the facts come from

Preondactylus (en.wikipedia.org)
New observations on the osteology and taxonomic status of Preondactylus bufferiniiWild, 1984 (Reptilia, Pterosauria) (paleoitalia.it)
Preondactylus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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