Dsungaripterus | Facts & Information

During the Cretaceous Period, small bipedal herbivores, giant predators that moved on two legs and a wide variety of flying reptiles evolved. According to the researchers, the birds developed from dinosaurs belonging to the theropod group.

Its fossil remains were discovered in China and Tanzania and described by paleontologist Chung Chien Yaung in 1964. Based on their analysis it was concluded that there were two species: Dsungaripterus well (from China) and dsungaripterus brancai (from Tanzania).

Dsungaripterus belongs to the category of short-tailed flying dinosaurs called Pterosaurians. Of this group the one that had gigantic proportions was the Pteronodon (with wingspan of 7-8 m), and the one that had a strong active flight was the Dsungaripterus.

Its wings had a wingspan of 3 m and were made of a thin but resistant membrane. This membrane stretched from the forelimbs to the hind limbs, leaving the hind paws free.

Head

The peculiarity of this species was given by the long crest on the head, which covered the area between the tip of the snout and the forehead. Its role was to recognize the species, improve flight quality and signal. The specimens of this species differed from each other by the appearance of this adornment on the midline of the snout.

In males the size of this increase was probably larger than in females. Some researchers hypothesized that the crest could act as a rudder during flight, while others thought it was merely an element of gender differentiation, or of attracting females to males during mating.

The Dsungaripterus also impresses with its short bony crest positioned in the posterior part of the head.

These prehistoric reptiles adopted two forms of flight – an active one (performed with the help of well-developed, flying muscles) and a hovering one (performed up and down, holding the wings and legs wide open when descending and squeezing them a little when ascending).

On the ground Dsungaripterus moved slowly, on the paws of the four thin limbs, always having tight wings. The weight of an adult Dsungaripterus has been estimated by experts at 7 kg. It seems that such a specimen had a light body, and this is because most of the bones were hollow inside.

During the mating period the males competed with each other through the appearance of capillary adornment to impress the females. Each of them chose his partner, came to him with his head slightly bowed in submission. As in any confrontation there is a loser and a winner. The male who lost to the rival sat separately, and, by himself, his chances of capturing the attention of a female were slim.

Dsungaripterus Feed

Dsungaripterus lived in coastal areas and fed on fish, crabs, mollusks, plankton, already dead animals and insects. Its skull was 50 cm long, the anterior part of the snout was devoid of teeth, only the lateral parts of the jaws showed small, wide, sharp teeth, slightly bent upward.

They were tools for breaking and breaking the hard shells of snails, shells or crabs.