Pterosaurs / Mythunga
Mythunga

Mythunga

Art: Joschua Knüppe

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Ornithocheiridae

Mythunga

/my-THUNG-a/

100 million years ago, Mythunga, a giant fish-eating pterosaur, soared over Australian seas.

Pterosaur data

Age
Albian
113–100.5 Ma
Wingspan
4.7 m
/ 12 m
Fossil record
fragmentary
Known from isolated fragments
Diet
piscivore

Mesozoic era · 252–66 Ma

Albian
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 Ma 201 145 66 Ma

Wingspan

Mythunga wingspan comparison
4.7 m (15.4 ft)

About this pterosaur

In 2008 paleontologist Ralph Molnar and Richard A. Thulborn described Mythunga camara, a new species of pterosaur from Australia known from a partial skull. It was discovered in 100-million-year-old rocks from the Toolebuc Formation in central Queensland, almost 400 km (250 miles) west of the coastal city of Townsville. The Toolebuc Formation is made up of marine mudstones and limestones deposited in a shallow near-shore lagoon or sheltered sea. 

The skull fragment is 21.5 cm (8.5 inches) long and represents a portion of the skull and mandible from the middle portion of the snout. The rear part of the fragment preserves part of large opening in the snout housing the nostrils and a large facial sinus. There are several widely spaced teeth preserved in the upper and lower jaws. Each tooth is conical and slightly recurved. The dorsal surface of the skull is broken and incomplete. The bones of the skull exposed there show a chambered or corrugated internal texture. Although the jaw tips are unknown in Mythunga, many close relatives have semi-circular crests on or near the ends of the upper and lower jaws. Comparing the size of what's preserved of Mythunga to similar pterosaurs indicates that its wingspan would be 4.7 meters (15.5 feet). 

When Mythunga was first described by Molnar and Thulborn in 2008, they did not assign it to any particular family. They did however, note several similarities between Mythunga and the ornithocheirids and istiodactylids. Both families are made up of tooth-bearing short-tailed members, and are thought to be soaring fish eaters. Both are also part of a larger group known as the ornithocheiroids which also includes the toothed anhanguerids and toothless pteranodontids and nyctosaurids. In a 2013 book on pterosaurs, Mark Witton regarded Mythunga to be an ornithocheirid. 

Like other ornithocheirids, Mythunga is thought to have been a soaring fish-eater. The size and spacing of the teeth suggest that Mythunga could take fairly large prey. The formation it was found in was a near-shore shallow marine environment. At the time, this location was at about 50° S latitude, similar to the modern location of the Falkland Islands. However, it was also deposited during a period of high global temperatures making the location much more temperate than the Falklands. The shallow, sheltered sea was surely home to abundant fish, squid, and other food items.

Across the network

Credits

Joschua Knüppe
Joschua Knüppe

Born in 1992 in Mettingen, Germany Began drawing at age 3 2010, diploma (Fachabitur) dicipline design Studying art since 2010 at the Academy for fine Arts Münster Since 2013 in the class of Shana Moulton Since 2014 master student <b>Exhibitions</b> -2012 "Pyrungata", Kunst in der Region, Kloster Gravenhorst -2013 Förderpreisausstellung, Kunsthalle Münster -2013 "Studentennester", Stadtmuseum Münster -2013 "Ausgrabung eines Eurovenator anglicus westfalia", Museumsdorf Detmold -2013 "All Yesterdays", SkF Osnabrück -2014 Förderpreisausstellung, Kunsthalle Münster -2014 "Silvanus" in F24, Münster -2014 "Seeschlangen, schützenswerte Exoten aus den Reiche der Legende", Geomuseum Münster -2015 “Ein lebender Mythos”, Kunstraum Unten, Bochum <b>Scientific work</b> Sachs et al 2015, Cenomanian–Turonian marine amniote remains from the Saxonian Cretaceous Basin of Germany

Illustrator
Vasi Devi
Vasi Devi
Author
Nick Garland
Nick Garland
Exhibit designer
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