Saraikisaurus
Saraikisaurus was a flying reptile that lived at the very end of the Age of Dinosaurs. It soared over what is now Pakistan, hunting fish with its beak-like jaws. Even though it looked like a dinosaur, it was actually a pterosaur, a cousin of the dinosaurs.11
When did it live?
How big was it?
How wide were its wings?
How big was Saraikisaurus compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
Fun facts
Saraikisaurus lived between 72 and 66 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous.1
Its fossils were found in the Vitakri Formation in Pakistan, a rock layer that was once a river floodplain.1
The only known fossil of Saraikisaurus is a lower jaw bone (mandible), which tells scientists it was a fish-eater.1
Saraikisaurus belongs to a group of pterosaurs called Pterodactyloidea, which includes many large, short-tailed flying reptiles.1
The name Saraikisaurus honors the Saraiki people and language of central Pakistan.1
Saraikisaurus was a pterosaur, not a dinosaur. Pterosaurs were flying reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs.1
Most asked questions about Saraikisaurus
?Is Saraikisaurus a dinosaur?
No, Saraikisaurus was a pterosaur, a flying reptile that lived at the same time as dinosaurs. It is not a dinosaur.4
?How big was Saraikisaurus?
Scientists are not sure of its full size because only a lower jaw bone has been found. The preserved jaw is about 5.8 cm long, and it was a large pterosaur.3
?What did Saraikisaurus eat?
Saraikisaurus was a fish-eater (piscivore). It used its beak-like jaws with teeth to catch fish.43
?When did Saraikisaurus live?
Saraikisaurus lived at the very end of the Cretaceous Period, between about 72 and 66 million years ago.4
Ask Rex about Saraikisaurus
Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.
Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Saraikisaurus
- Named by
- Malkani 20144
- Group
- Flying reptiles
- Family / clade
- Saraikisauridae4
- Classification
- Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea4
- Age of the rocks
- 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)4
- Rock formations
- Vitakri4
- Countries
- Pakistan4
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Saraikisaurus was named by Pakistani paleontologist M. Sadiq Malkani in 2014, based on a jaw bone found in the Vitakri Formation of Balochistan, Pakistan.11
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure how big Saraikisaurus was, because only a jaw bone has been found so far.1
Where the facts come from
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Saraikisaurus minnhui | Pterosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
- Pterosaurs from Indo-Pakistan subcontinent; Were Cretaceous pterosaurs tooth bearing? Diagnostic features of Saraikisaurus minhui a toothed, youngest and latest Cretaceous pterosaur (researchgate.net)
- Saraikisaurus 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.
Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex
Pteranodon
Quetzalcoatlus
Dorygnathus
Rhamphorhynchus
Anhanguera
Pterodactylus
Tyrannosaurus
Triceratops
Velociraptor
Spinosaurus
Ankylosaurus
Parasaurolophus