Eudimorphodon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iEudimorphodon Fossil range: Late Triassic
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Order: Pterosauria Suborder: Rhamphorhynchoidea Family: Campylognathoididae Genus: Eudimorphodon Zambelli, 1973
Species
E. ranzii (type) E. rosenfeldi Dalla Vecchia, 1995 E. cromptonellus Jenkins et al., 2001

Eudimorphodon was a pterosaur that lived around present Italy during the Middle Triassic. It had a wingspan of about 100 centimetres and at the end of its long bony tail was perhaps a diamond-shaped flap. The flap may have helped it steer while in the air. It showed a strong dimorphism of the teeth, hence its name "true dimorphic tooth". The species, then the oldest pterosaurian known, was found in 1973 by Mario Pandolfi and described that same year by Rocco Zambelli. Despite its age it has few primitive characters.

[edit] References

• Fantastic Facts About Dinosaurs (ISBN 0-7525-3166-2)