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Pterodactylus

Weight

2 kg

Habitat

France, England, Germany, Tanzania

Diet

Carnivore

Geological period

Jurassic

Era

Triassic

Size

75 cm wingspan

Ptérodactylus

Pterodactyls are neither dinosaurs nor birds, they are archosaurian diapsids ornithodirians. The pterodactyl had a short tail, a long neck, and hands ending in claws that helped support the quadrupedal-shaped animal for climbing. Its skull was elongated and aerodynamic, ideal for hunting fish and insects. It seemed to be warm-blooded and to generate its own body temperature. It was probably not very fast and would not have exceeded 20km/h. It mainly used air currents to fly.  It was discovered in 1784. It is distinguished from pterosaurs by a shorter tail.

Other dinosaurs to discover