- · Grid units represent actual meters (m); human and animals are drawn to the exact same scale with original silhouette aspect ratios preserved.
- · When a size range is recorded (e.g. 1–1.6m), the lower bound is used for scale comparison.
- · Darwinopterus silhouette: PhyloPic — Gareth Monger · CC BY 3.0
- · Human silhouette: PhyloPic — NASA · Public Domain Mark 1.0
Darwinopterus
Darwinopterus modularis (Darwinopterus · Darwinopterus)
Known only from fossils. The IUCN Red List assesses only species extant since 1500 CE, so fossil taxa are not assigned a category.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 An estimated wingspan of about 0.7 m is about 1.7 times the long side of an A3 sheet of paper (about 42 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 An estimated wingspan of about 0.7 m is about 2/5 of an adult's arm span (about 1.7 m) (Comparison).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
Darwinopterus modularis (genus Darwinopterus) was a small pterosaur that lived in Liaoning, China, about 1 hundred 60 million years ago, with a head and neck shaped like those of advanced pterosaurs and a body and long tail of primitive form.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its skull and neck resembled those of advanced, short-tailed pterosaurs (pterodactyloids), while the rest of its body matched primitive, long-tailed pterosaurs. A 2010 paper showed that this "modular" combination illustrates the transition between the two groups.
🔍 3. Fossil Record & Paleoecology
It is thought to have used its sharp, fang-like teeth to bite soft, small prey such as insects. Three species of Darwinopterus in the same strata are said to have lived together by partitioning their food.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • Fossil taxon — the IUCN Red List assesses only species living or extinct since 1500
- • paleobiodb.org — basicTaxonInfo
- • wikidata.org — Q4037045
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Darwinopterus.jpg
- • palaeo-electronica.org — 5672-a-new-german-monofenestratan-pterosaur-tables
- • doi.org — rspb.2009.1603
- • eartharchives.org — little-dragons-of-the-jurassic-the-wukongopoterids
- • scientificamerican.com — rare-fossil-preserves-pterosaur-mom-and-egg
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Gareth Monger · CC BY 3.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.