Archaeoistiodactylus

Archaeoistiodactylus is known from only one incomplete skeleton, including a partial skull and lower jaws.1

Its front teeth in the upper jaw were angled backward, which may have helped it catch slippery fish.1

The name means 'ancient Istiodactylus', because scientists first thought it was an older relative of the pterosaur Istiodactylus.1

Some scientists think Archaeoistiodactylus might actually be a poorly preserved specimen of another pterosaur called Darwinopterus.1

It lived in the Middle Jurassic period, about 165 million years ago, in what is now China.1

The holotype specimen is cataloged as JPM04 to 0008 and was found in the Tiaojishan Formation of western Liaoning, China.1