Dimorphodon
| Dimorphodon | ||||||||||
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Life picture of Dimorphodon macronyx |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||
| Lower Jurassic | ||||||||||
| 199.6 to 175.6 million years | ||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Dimorphodon | ||||||||||
| Owen , 1859 |
Dimorphodon was a genus of medium-sized pterosaurs from the Lower Jurassic of Europe. Dimorphodon means "two types of teeth" ( Greek di - two, morph - "form", odon - "tooth"). Four to five larger teeth in the front part of the upper and lower jaw are followed by many small teeth. Different tooth types are an exception inclassic reptiles , the rule being homodontic teeth.
The fossilized fossils of Dimorphodon macronyx , the type species , were found in England by Mary Anning (1799–1847) at Lyme Regis in Dorset and originally assigned to the genus Pterodactylus . This region is now as Jurassic Coast to the UNESCO World Heritage . Most of Dimorphodon's fossils are now in the Natural History Museum in London.
features
Dimorphodon was about 1 meter long and had a wingspan of 1.2 meters. Like all early pterosaurs, it had a long tail. Its head was relatively large with a length of 20 centimeters, high and resembled that of a puffin . Teeth and jaws suggest that it was, like most pterosaurs, a fish eater, but it could also have eaten insects, lizards, worms and other small creatures. Dimorphodon lived approximately 200 to 175 million years ago.
species
- Dimorphodon macronyx
- Dimorphodon weintraubi
literature
- Peter Wellnhofer : The illustrated encyclopedia of pterosaurs . Crescent Books, New York 1991. ISBN 0-517-03701-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Foot posture in a primitive pterosaur: JM Clark, JA Hopson, DE Fastovsky, M Montellano - Nature, 1998