Zhejiangopterus
Zhejiangopterus was a huge flying reptile that lived in ancient China. It had a long, toothless beak like a modern bird and a wingspan wider than a car is long. It soared over the Late Cretaceous skies hunting for fish.31
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wings as wide as 3 bicycles in a row
about as heavy as a house cat🍌as heavy as 66 bananas⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 5.5 secondsHow big was Zhejiangopterus compared to YOU?
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Fun facts
Zhejiangopterus had no teeth at all. Its beak was long, thin and pointed, perfect for grabbing fish.1
Its skull was long and low, with a single large oval opening that took up nearly half the length of the head.1
The wing finger metacarpal bone was longer than the combined radius and ulna bones in the arm.1
Its thigh bone was about one and a half times longer than its upper arm bone.1
Zhejiangopterus lived around 81.5 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.1
It was discovered by a local villager named Chengfa Xu in 1986 while he was splitting rocks in a quarry.1
Most asked questions about Zhejiangopterus
?How big was Zhejiangopterus?
Its wingspan was first estimated at 5 meters (16.4 feet), but later estimates reduced it to about 3.5 meters (11.5 feet). Its body mass was around 7.9 kilograms (roughly 17 pounds).2
?Did Zhejiangopterus have teeth?
No, it had no teeth at all. Its beak was long, thin, and sharply pointed.2
?What did Zhejiangopterus eat?
It likely ate fish, grabbing them with its long, toothless beak.2
?When did Zhejiangopterus live?
It lived about 81.5 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period.2
?Where was Zhejiangopterus found?
It was discovered in Zhejiang Province, China, near the city of Linhai.2
?Is Zhejiangopterus a dinosaur?
No, it is a pterosaur, a flying reptile that is not a dinosaur.2
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Zhejiangopterus
- Named by
- Cai and Wei 19943
- Group
- Flying reptiles
- Family / clade
- Azhdarchidae3
- Classification
- Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea > Azhdarchidae3
- Age of the rocks
- 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)3
- Rock formations
- Tangshang3
- Countries
- China3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Zhejiangopterus was named in 1994 by Chinese paleontologists Cai Zhengquan and Wei Feng. The first fossils were found in 1986 by a villager named Chengfa Xu in a quarry near Linhai, Zhejiang, China.31
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure whether Zhejiangopterus belongs to the family Nyctosauridae or Azhdarchidae. Different studies place it in different groups.31
Where the facts come from
- Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis (Pterosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of Linhai, Zhejiang, China (naturalhistory.si.edu)
- Zhejiangopterus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Zhejiangopterus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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