🎨 RestorationRestoration: By John.Conway http://jconway.co.uk . FIrst uploaded by author on En Wiki. · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Life restorations are artistic reconstructions based on fossil evidence; true coloration and soft-tissue details remain uncertain.
Dimorphodon
Dimorphodon macronyx (Dimorphodon · Dimorphodon)
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
- 💡 In 1829, Buckland estimated its size as "about the size of a crow" (Comparison).
- 💡 The skull of a large specimen, at about 220 mm, is slightly longer than the short side of an A4 sheet of paper (210 mm) (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
Dimorphodon macronyx (genus Dimorphodon) was a pterosaur that lived in the United Kingdom during the Early Jurassic. In December 1828, Mary Anning discovered its first bones in the Blue Lias Formation at Lyme Regis, United Kingdom.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Noting from the first headless skeleton found that its claws were longer than those of German specimens, the scholar Buckland gave it the species name macronyx. In large specimens, the skull is about 220 mm long and the humerus is about 90 mm long.
🔍 3. Fossil Record & Paleoecology
In 1829, Buckland conjectured that it was about the size of a crow, resembled a bat in form, and ate insects at night. That was the conjecture of the time.
🇰🇷 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 — Q22112745
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Dimorphodon-macronyx jconway.jpg
- • geolsoc.org.uk — dimorphodon-macronyx
- • pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov — PMC11700493
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.