Dino card No. 1899 of 2,027

Volgadraco

Say it: VOL-gah-DRAH-koh

Name means: “Volga dragon”1

Ate: FishFlying reptilesLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Volgadraco was a flying reptile that soared over an ancient sea in what is now Russia. It had a long beak and probably snatched fish from the water while flying. This pterosaur lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 80 million years ago.1 2

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

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Saratov, Russia1

Food

Fish2 4

Wingspan

5.2 to 6.5 m3

estimate based on femur and proximal syncarpal

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 4 bicycles in a row

How big was Volgadraco compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Volgadraco is known from only a lower beak and a few other bone fragments found in the Rybushka Formation of Russia.1

Its name means 'Volga dragon', because it was discovered near the Volga River in Russia.1

Scientists do not agree on which family Volgadraco belongs to. Some think it is an azhdarchid, others a nyctosaurid, and some say a pteranodontid.1

Volgadraco lived in the Campanian age, about 83 to 72 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous.4

The size of its beak and blood supply show that Volgadraco was intermediate between older and younger pterosaurs like Azhdarcho and Quetzalcoatlus.1

Only two fossils of Volgadraco have been found, both in the same area of Russia.4

Volgadraco was an aerial animal that could fly and was actively mobile.2

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

?How big was Volgadraco?

Nobody knows for sure, but its wingspan was probably between 5.2 and 6.5 metres (17 to 21 feet), based on a related pterosaur from the same formation.3

?What did Volgadraco eat?

It probably snatched fish from the water while flying, using its long beak.1

?Is Volgadraco a dinosaur?

No, it is a pterosaur, which is a flying reptile and not a dinosaur.1

?Where was Volgadraco found?

Its fossils were found near the Volga River in Saratov, Russia, in the Rybushka Formation.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Volgadraco is a dinosaur.

Truth: Volgadraco is a pterosaur, a flying reptile, not a dinosaur.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Volgadraco
Named by: Averianov et al. 20084
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Pteranodontidae4
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea > Pteranodontidae4
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)4
Rock formations: Rybushka4
Countries: Russia4
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Volgadraco was named in 2008 by Russian paleontologists Averianov, Arkhangelsky, and Pervushov. The species name, V. bogolubovi, honors paleontologist Nikolai Bogolubov.1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether Volgadraco belongs to the azhdarchid, nyctosaurid, or pteranodontid family of pterosaurs.1

Where the facts come from

Volgadraco (en.wikipedia.org)
Volgadraco - Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org)
A large pteranodontid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Eastern Europe | Geological Magazine | Cambridge Core (cambridge.org)
Volgadraco in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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