Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
282 / Mesozoic
Anhanguera
Anhanguera blittersdorffi
A toothed beak with matching crests helped seize slippery fish near the water surface.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 113–105 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- Tropical lagoons and open sea · Northeastern Brazil
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Anhanguera?
Anhanguera (Anhanguera blittersdorffi) was an extinct organism known from About 113–105 million years ago, with a range in Tropical lagoons and open sea · Northeastern Brazil.
Life and ecology
Anhanguera was a large ocean-going pterosaur that used long narrow wings to search for fish around tropical lagoons and offshore waters.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Anhanguera disappear?
Changing Cretaceous coasts and pterosaur faunas are possible context, but they do not establish why the genus disappeared.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Anhanguera?
Three-dimensional Santana Formation skulls and skeletons preserve teeth, crests and wing anatomy.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS