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Uktenadactylus

Say it: uk-TEN-uh-DAK-til-us

Name means: “Uktena finger, after the horned snake from Cherokee mythology”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesEarly CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Uktenadactylus was a flying reptile that soared over the seas of Texas and England about 110 million years ago. It had a big crest on its snout and a mouth full of sharp teeth, perfect for catching fish. This pterosaur was not a dinosaur, but a close relative of the famous Pterodactyl.1 3

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

Lived

126 to 100 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Texas, USA and the Isle of Wight, England1 3

Food

Fish3 1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Uktenadactylus is known from only a few snout fragments, so scientists are still guessing its full size.1

The name Uktenadactylus comes from the Uktena, a giant horned snake in Cherokee legends, and the Greek word for finger.1

Its snout had a crest that curved upward and was about 7.5 centimetres (3 inches) tall at its highest point.1

The third pair of teeth in its upper jaw were the biggest, each about 1.8 centimetres (0.7 inches) wide.1

Uktenadactylus lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 125 to 100 million years ago.3

It belonged to a group of pterosaurs called anhanguerids, which had long, toothed jaws and often fished near coasts.1

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

?How big was Uktenadactylus?

Scientists estimate it had a wingspan of about 7 to 8 metres, possibly up to 9 metres. This is based on comparisons with similar pterosaurs like Coloborhynchus and Tropeognathus.2

?What did Uktenadactylus eat?

It ate fish. Its long, toothed jaws and sharp teeth were perfect for catching fish near the coast.1

?Is Uktenadactylus a dinosaur?

No, it is a pterosaur, a flying reptile that is not a dinosaur. It is a close relative of Pterodactyl.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Uktenadactylus
Named by: Rodrigues and Kellner 20083
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Anhangueridae3
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea3
Age of the rocks: 126 to 100 million years (Barremian / Albian)3
Rock formations: Paw Paw, Wessex3
Countries: USA, United Kingdom3
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: The first fossil, a partial snout, was found in 1992 in Tarrant County, Texas, by Chris Wadleigh. In 1994, Yuong Nam-Lee named it Coloborhynchus wadleighi. In 2009, Brazilian paleontologists Taissa Rodrigues and Alexander Kellner gave it its own genus, Uktenadactylus.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure how big Uktenadactylus was, because only pieces of its snout have been found.1

Where the facts come from

Uktenadactylus (en.wikipedia.org)
Uktenadactylus – DINOSAURS AND BARBARIANS (dinosaursandbarbarians.com)
Uktenadactylus 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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