Anurognathus
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Extinct (fossil)
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| Anurognathus ammoni Döderline, 1923 |
Anurognathus was a tiny pterosaur that lived approximately 155-140 million years ago (Tithonian). It had a short head, pin-like teeth for catching insects, and although it traditionally is ascribed to the long tailed pterosaur group, its tail was comparatively short, allowing it more manoeuvrability for hunting down lunch. With a wingspan of 50 cm (20 inches) and a 9 cm long body (skull included), it could not have weighed more than a few grams. Only one skeleton has been found, in the Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria.
The genus name means: "jaw without tail", the species name honours the Bavarian geologist Ludwig von Ammon. Anurognathus was a member of the Anurognathidae.
[edit] In popular culture
Anurognathus was featured in the second episode of the British documentary series Walking With Dinosaurs. It was shown having a mutual symbiotic relationship with the dinosaur Diplodocus, eating parasitic insects off its skin.
Anurognathus is also feaured in the Walking with Dinosaurs special The Ballad of Big Al (identified as "pterosaur").
Anurognathus was also featured in the ITV sci-fi drama Primeval. This time Anurognathus was portrayed as living in the Late Cretaceous period, 85 million years ago, and acting like a flying piranha fish, with an amazingly keen sense of smell able to detect blood from hundreds of feet away. A flock stripped the flesh from a carcass in a matter of minutes.
[edit] Bibliography
- Dinosaurs and other Prehistoric Creatures, edited by Ingrid Cranfield, 2000 Salamander Books Ltd, pg 306-307.
- Doderlein L. "Anurognathus ammoni ein neuer Flugsaurier. Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften", math- naturwiss Klasse, 1923. 117～164
