Ancient Reptiles Codexery

Dimorphodon

A medium-sized pterosaur with two tooth types and short wings.

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The genus is accepted in the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which records 58 occurrences.[1] During the early Jurassic Period, roughly 201 to 191 million years ago, the medium-sized pterosaur genus Dimorphodon inhabited Europe.[2] Paleontologist Richard Owen gave Dimorphodon its scientific name in 1859.[2]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassReptilia
  4. Order†Pterosauria
  5. Family†Dimorphodontidae
  6. Genus†Dimorphodon

Named by Owen, 1859

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Dimorphodon (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick Facts

Type species
Dimorphodon macronyx

Facts from the source article.

Biology and range

The first fossil remains were found in England by Mary Anning at Lyme Regis in Dorset, UK in December 1828.[3] Buckland classified the remains as Pterodactylus macronyx, with the specific name meaning "large claw"[4] An additional species, D. weintraubi, was named in 1998 from a partial skeleton in the La Boca Formation in Tamaulipas, Mexico.[5] When fully grown, Dimorphodon measured 1 meter in body length and had a wingspan of 1.45 meters.[6]

Weighing less due to sizable cavities separated by slender bone walls, the heavy, massive skull of Dimorphodon reached about 23 cm in length.[7] In the upper jaw's forward section, four or five fang-like teeth were present, with smaller teeth positioned behind them.[7] At this location, the Blue Lias layers are visible, which date to the Hettangian-Sinemurian stages.[3] Dimorphodon* likely lived mostly near coastlines and probably consumed a wide assortment of foods.[8]

What the specialist sources record

Biomechanical studies support Buckland's original insectivore idea better than a piscivore depiction.[8] More recent studies show the animal was actually a rather poor flyer, with proportionally short wings and a robust skeleton offering little gliding potential.[9] Buckland proposed that insects formed the diet of Dimorphodon.[8] A feeding strategy termed "snap and hold" was enabled by Dimorphodon's highly developed jaw muscles.[8]

Although the jaws could snap shut very rapidly, they generated minimal force and achieved little tooth penetration.[8] Analyses of dental microwear patterns confirm that Dimorphodon preyed on vertebrates, but the possibility that it also ate softer invertebrates cannot be completely ruled out.[8]

References

  1. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Dimorphodon (taxon key 4818474). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Dimorphodon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Müller R.T., Ezcurra M.D., Garcia M.S., Agnolín F.L., Stocker M.R., Novas F.E., Soares M.B., Kellner A.W.A. & Nesbitt S.J. (2023). ”New reptile shows dinosaurs (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Dimorphodon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wellnhofer, "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs", Barnes and Noble Books, 1996, p. 69 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Dimorphodon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Buckland, "XI.--On the Discovery of a New Species of Pterodactyle in the Lias at Lyme Regis.", Transactions of the Geological Society of London, 1 January 1829, p. 217–222 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Dimorphodon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Montellano, "Late Early Jurassic Mammaliaforms from Huizachal Canyon, Tamaulipas, México", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2008, p. 1130–1143 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Dimorphodon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Dimorphodon." In: Cranfield, Ingrid (ed.). The Illustrated Directory of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures. London: Salamander Books, Ltd. Pp. 288-291.; Wellnhofer, "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs", Barnes and Noble Books, 1996, p. 71 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Dimorphodon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Dimorphodon." In: Cranfield, Ingrid (ed.). The Illustrated Directory of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures. London: Salamander Books, Ltd. Pp. 288-291.; Padian. K. (1995). "Pterosaurs and Typology: Archetypal Physiology in the Owen-Seeley Dispute of 1870", In: Sarjeant, W.A.S. & Halstead, L.N. (ed.) Vertebrate f (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Dimorphodon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ősi, "Feeding-related characters in basal pterosaurs: implications for jaw mechanism, dental function and diet: Feeding-related characters in pterosaurs", Lethaia, June 2011, p. 136–152; Wilton, Mark P., "Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy", Princeton University Press, 2013, p. 103; Bestwick, "Dietary diversity and evolution of the earliest flying vertebrates revealed by dental microwear texture analysis", Nature Communications, 28 October 2020, p. 5293 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Dimorphodon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wilton, Mark P., "Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy", Princeton University Press, 2013, p. 103; Rayner et al 2011 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Dimorphodon (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Dimorphodon · Extinct Archosaurs

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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