Dino card No. 1665 of 2,027

Simurghia

Say it: sim-UR-gee-uh

Name means: “named after the Simurgh, a giant flying beast from Persian mythology”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Simurghia was a big flying reptile that lived near the end of the age of dinosaurs. It had a wingspan as wide as a small car and probably soared over the ocean hunting for fish.1

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

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco1

Food

Fish3

Wingspan

5 m1

estimated

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How wide were its wings?

wings as wide as 3 bicycles in a row

How big was Simurghia compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Simurghia was named in 2018 along with two other pterosaurs from the same area: Alcione and Barbaridactylus.1

Its name comes from the Simurgh, a giant bird-like creature in Persian myths.1

Simurghia lived about 66 million years ago, just before the big extinction that killed the dinosaurs.1

All known fossils of Simurghia were found during a three-year dig that uncovered about 200 pterosaur specimens.1

Simurghia was much bigger than its close relative Alcione, weighing about 560 percent more.1

The type specimen is just a single upper arm bone (humerus), but it is enough to tell this was a distinct species.1

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

?How big was Simurghia?

Simurghia had a wingspan of about 5 metres (16 feet), as wide as a small car. It weighed about 6.6 times as much as its relative Alcione.1

?What did Simurghia eat?

Simurghia was a fish-eater. It likely soared over the ocean and hunted for fish.1 2

?Is Simurghia a dinosaur?

No, Simurghia is a pterosaur, a flying reptile, not a dinosaur.1 3

?When did Simurghia live?

Simurghia lived about 66 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period, just before the big extinction that killed the dinosaurs.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Simurghia
Named by: Longrich et al. 20183
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Aponyctosauria3
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea3
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Couche III3
Countries: Morocco3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Simurghia was named in 2018 by paleontologists Nicholas Longrich, David Martill, and Brian Andres. The fossils were found in phosphate mines in Morocco.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if a pterosaur from Brazil called 'Nyctosaurus' lamegoi is also a species of Simurghia.1

Where the facts come from

Simurghia (en.wikipedia.org)
A Dinosaur A Day: Simurghia (a-dinosaur-a-day.com)
Simurghia 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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