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Dimorphodon

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Dimorphodon
Temporal range: Lower Jurassic
Fossil
Scientific classification
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Dimorphodon

Owen, 1859
Species
  • D. macronyx (Buckland, 1829 (type)
  • D. weintraubi Clark et al., 1998

Dimorphodon was a prehistoric flying pterosaur from the early Jurassic period. It had a big head, a small brain, a tall beak, and two types of teeth. Variation in teeth is rare in pterosaurs.

Like Rhamphorhynchus, Dimorphodon is only found in Jurassic strata. It was the first pterosaur found in England, by Mary Anning, in 1828.[1]

Most of the known specimens were found in the Jurassic chalk of the south coast of England in the 19th century. Another species of Dimorphodon has been found in La Boca Formation in Tamaulipas, Mexico, from the Lower Jurassic.[2]

A skeletal mount of D. macronyx

References

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  1. Buckland W. (1 January 1829). On the discovery of a new species of Pterodactyle in the Lias at Lyme Regis. Transactions of the Geological Society of London. s2-3 (1): 217–222.
  2. Clark J.M.; Hopson J.A.; Hernández R., R.; Fastovsky D.E.; Montellano M. 1998. Foot posture in a primitive pterosaur. Nature. 391 (6670): 886–889. [1]