Dino card No. 1543 of 2,027

Rhamphinion

Name means: “beak nape”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesEarly JurassicNot technically a dinosaur

Rhamphinion was an early flying reptile that soared over what is now Arizona during the Early Jurassic. It was one of the first pterosaurs ever found in the Americas, but we only know it from a few pieces of its skull.1 2

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

Lived

200 to 184 million years ago3

Early Jurassic

Fossils found in

Kayenta Formation, northeastern Arizona, USA1 3

Food

Fish3

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Rhamphinion lived about 196 to 183 million years ago, during the Early Jurassic.1

The only known fossils are three pieces of skull: an occipital bone, part of a left jugal (cheek bone), and two teeth with a possible jaw fragment.1 2

Its name comes from Greek words meaning 'beak nape', because the fossils come from the back of the skull.1

When it was discovered in 1978, Rhamphinion was the oldest pterosaur known from the Western Hemisphere.1

The fossils were found by an expedition led by Farish A. Jenkins Jr., and the species name jenkinsi honors him.1

A nearly complete wing bone (fourth metacarpal) found nearby might belong to Rhamphinion, but scientists are not sure.1

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

?Is Rhamphinion a dinosaur?

No, Rhamphinion is a pterosaur, a flying reptile that is not a dinosaur.1

?How big was Rhamphinion?

Nobody knows for sure because only a few skull pieces have been found, but it was a small pterosaur.1

?What did Rhamphinion eat?

Scientists are not certain, but as a basal pterosaur it likely ate small animals like insects or fish.1

?When did Rhamphinion live?

Rhamphinion lived during the Early Jurassic, about 196 to 183 million years ago.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Rhamphinion
Named by: Padian 19843
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Rhamphorhynchoidea3
Classification: Pterosauria3
Age of the rocks: 200 to 184 million years (Sinemurian / Pliensbachian)3
Rock formations: Kayenta3
Countries: USA3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Rhamphinion was named in 1984 by Kevin Padian based on skull fragments collected in 1978 from the Kayenta Formation of Arizona. The fossils were found by an expedition from Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology and the Museum of Northern Arizona.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly where Rhamphinion fits in the pterosaur family tree because the fossils are so fragmentary. It might be related to Dimorphodon, but its classification remains uncertain.1

Where the facts come from

Rhamphinion (en.wikipedia.org)
Pterosaur remains from the Kayenta Formation (?Early Jurassic) of Arizona | The Palaeontological Association (palass.org)
Rhamphinion in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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