Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
334 / Mesozoic
Tupandactylus
Tupandactylus imperator
Most of its enormous head crest was soft tissue used as a visual signal.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 115–110 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- Lagoons and semiarid coasts · Brazil
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Tupandactylus?
Tupandactylus (Tupandactylus imperator) was an extinct organism known from About 115–110 million years ago, with a range in Lagoons and semiarid coasts · Brazil.
Life and ecology
This toothless pterosaur foraged on land and near water, while the crest advertised identity.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Tupandactylus disappear?
Coastal and pterosaur-community turnover in the Early Cretaceous is possible context; the fossil record does not establish why it disappeared.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Tupandactylus?
Compressed skulls preserve both the bony frame and soft crest outline.
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