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  • Dorygnathus
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  • Dorygnathus was a genus of pterosaur that lived in Europe during the Early Jurassic period, 180 MYA, when shallow seas flooded much of the continent. It had a short 1.5 meter (5 ft) wingspan, and a relatively small triangular sternum, which is where its flight muscles attached. Its skull was long and its eye sockets were the largest opening therein. Large curved fangs that "intermeshed" when the jaws closed featured prominently at the front of the snout while smaller, straighter teeth lined the back.
  • Dorygnathus ("spear jaw") was a genus of pterosaur that lived in Europe during the Early Jurassic period, 190 million years ago when shallow seas flooded much of the continent. It had a relatively short 1 meter (3 ft) wingspan, and a correspondingly small triangular sternum, which is where its flight muscles attached. Its skull was long and its eye sockets were the largest opening therein. Large curved fangs that "intermeshed" when the jaws closed featured prominently at the front of the snout while smaller, straighter teeth lined the back. Having variable teeth, a condition called heterodonty, is rare in modern reptiles but common in dinosaurs and primitive pterosaurs. The heterodont dentition in Dorygnathus is consistent with a piscivorous (fish-eating) diet. The fifth digit on the hindl
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Appearances
  • Walking with Dinosaurs: Inside Their World
Name
  • Dorygnathus
Caption
  • Dorygnathus bathensis
Primary diet
  • Carnivore
Fatalities caused
  • One Fish
fossil range
name meaning
  • Spear jaw
imagewidth
  • 250
Species
  • ( Wagner, 1860 ) * D. mistelgauensis
  • (Wild, 1971)
  • * D. banthensis
Genus
  • Dorygnathus
Suborder
Time Period
  • Early Jurassic
Family
Order
  • Pterosauria
abstract
  • Dorygnathus was a genus of pterosaur that lived in Europe during the Early Jurassic period, 180 MYA, when shallow seas flooded much of the continent. It had a short 1.5 meter (5 ft) wingspan, and a relatively small triangular sternum, which is where its flight muscles attached. Its skull was long and its eye sockets were the largest opening therein. Large curved fangs that "intermeshed" when the jaws closed featured prominently at the front of the snout while smaller, straighter teeth lined the back.
  • Dorygnathus ("spear jaw") was a genus of pterosaur that lived in Europe during the Early Jurassic period, 190 million years ago when shallow seas flooded much of the continent. It had a relatively short 1 meter (3 ft) wingspan, and a correspondingly small triangular sternum, which is where its flight muscles attached. Its skull was long and its eye sockets were the largest opening therein. Large curved fangs that "intermeshed" when the jaws closed featured prominently at the front of the snout while smaller, straighter teeth lined the back. Having variable teeth, a condition called heterodonty, is rare in modern reptiles but common in dinosaurs and primitive pterosaurs. The heterodont dentition in Dorygnathus is consistent with a piscivorous (fish-eating) diet. The fifth digit on the hindlimbs of Doryganthus was unusually long and oriented to the side. Its function is not known, but the toe may have supported a membrane like those supported by its wing-fingers and pteroids. Dorygnathus was related to the Late Jurassic pterosaur, Rhamphorhynchus and was a contemporary of Campylognathoides in Holzmaden and Ohmden.