Pterosaurs / Pangupterus
Pangupterus

Pangupterus

Art: Joschua Knüppe

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Pangupterus

/PANG-goo-ter-us/

The newest entry into the ranks of the flying reptiles, Pangupterus liui also had the oddest set of teeth of any pterosaur.

Pterosaur data

Age
Aptian
125–113 Ma
Wingspan
0.7 m
/ 12 m
Fossil record
partial
Partial skeleton recovered
Diet
piscivore

Mesozoic era · 252–66 Ma

Aptian
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 Ma 201 145 66 Ma

Wingspan

Pangupterus wingspan comparison
0.7 m (2.3 ft)

About this pterosaur

The Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation from China has revealed yet another incredible pterosaur. Its name is Pangupterus liui and it has a dental array never before seen in a flying reptile. Its teeth were incredibly thin, and were set in an extremely narrow pair of jaws. Of its jaws, only the lower has been found. 

From this part, it is estimated that the animal had a 20-centimeter skull. Pangupterus might have had a 70-centimeter wingspan, small for a Cretaceous pterosaur. 

The animal bore a very thin and elongated snout. However we still don't know what it was eating or catching with those odd teeth and jaws. What we do know is that Pangupterus may have looked, for all the world, like an oversized mosquito.

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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