What is Darwinopterus?
Q: What is Darwinopterus?
A: Darwinopterus is a genus of pterosaur discovered in China and named after Charles Darwin.
Q: What is unique about Darwinopterus?
A: Darwinopterus is the first known pterosaur to display features of both long-tailed (rhamphorhynchoid) and short-tailed (pterodactyloid) pterosaurs, making it a transitional fossil between the two groups.
Q: How many fossil specimens of Darwinopterus have been found?
A: Between 30 and 40 fossil specimens of Darwinopterus have been found.
Q: From which formation were the Darwinopterus fossils collected?
A: All the fossil specimens of Darwinopterus were collected from the Tiaojishan Formation, which dates to the Middle Jurassic, 160 million years ago (mya).
Q: When was the type species of Darwinopterus described?
A: The type species of Darwinopterus, D. modularis, was described in February 2010.
Q: Were there any additional species of Darwinopterus described?
A: Yes, two additional species of Darwinopterus were described from the same fossil beds in December 2010 and June 2011, respectively. These species are D. linglongtaensis and D. robustodens.
Q: What did the sexual dimorphism of Darwinopterus specimens show?
A: The sexual dimorphism of Darwinopterus specimens showed that the males had crests on their heads and narrower hips than the females.
