Home > Prehistoric Flying Reptiles > Darwinopterus

Darwinopterus

---

There were some major differences between the pterosaurs of the Jurassic period and their Cretaceous descendants: the earlier flying reptiles tended to be tiny, small-beaked and long-tailed, while later behemoths like Pteranodon and Quetzalcoatlus had enormous beaks and wingspans, relatively short tails, and probably spent as much time walking as flying. Darwinopterus (over 20 fossils of which have been found in northeastern China) is considered to be a transitional form between these two broad classifications of pterosaur. This flying reptile had an unusually large head and beak, but a relatively puny body with a long (i.e., primitive) tail. As one of its discoverers is quoted as saying, it's "a really cool creature, because it links the two major phases of pterosaur evolution."