Sordes

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Sordes
Fossil range: Late Jurassic

Scale model of Sordes pilosus

Fossil

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Pterosauria
Suborder:	Rhamphorhynchoidea
Family:	Rhamphorhynchidae
Genus:	Sordes
Species:	S. pilosus

Binomial name

Sordes pilosus
Sharov, 1971

Sordes (meaning "devil" in Greek) was a small pterosaur that lived in the late Jurassic Period of the Mesozoic era. Sordes lived in the in the area of Kazakhstan. It belonged to the family Rhamphorynchidae. These were the earliest of the pterosaurs, evolving in the late Triassic and surviving to the late Jurassic. Rhamphorynchids were small pterosaurs ranging from 0.30 to 0.90 meters (1 foot to 3 feet) in length. Their teeth were tiny, so Sordes and other Rhamphorynchids probably ate insects and amphibians.

Sordes pilosus

When Sordes was discovered in 1971, paleontologists found tiny, dense hairs on the body imprinted in the rock. This supported the theory that pterosaurs probably did have a layer of down fur. The hair found on the Sordes skeleton served as insulation and provided a streamlined flight profile. But scientists were confused at why pterosaur fossils found in Germany, having the best preserved fossils, yielded no fur.

Sordes had a 0.45 m (1.5 feet) wingspan. It had a slender, not round, head with long, pointed jaws. Its teeth were small and slanted. It had a thick and compacted neck. It had a long tail, accounting for over half its length. Unlike most pterosaurs, it had no head crest. Sordes had wing membranes attached to the legs and a membrane between the legs.