Cathayopterus

Cathayopterus is known only from a single skull preserved in top view, with its left side damaged.1

Its teeth splay outward at the tip of the snout, just like the teeth of another pterosaur called Ctenochasma.1

It lived during the Early Cretaceous, about 122 million years ago.1

The name Cathayopterus uses 'Cathay,' an old word for China, so it means 'China wing.'1

The species name grabaui honors American geologist Amadeus W. Grabau, who studied early Chinese fossils.1

It belongs to a group of pterosaurs called ctenochasmatids, which were mostly filter feeders.1

Cathayopterus probably flew over shallow waterways and used its teeth to strain small creatures from the water.12