Loading

Rhamphorhynchus sp. (pterosaur) Aspidohynchus sp. (fish)

The Wyoming Dinosaur Center

The Wyoming Dinosaur Center
Thermopolis, WY, United States

Real Fossil - Late Jurassic 148 Mya - Germany
The fish the pterosaur is swallowing is intact and not at all digested. This indicates that the Rhamphorhynchus was actively hunting while in flight. The short neck would mean the animal needed to fly very close to the surface to skim or grab live fish from the water. Aspidohynchus hunted close to the water surface where schools of small leptolepidid fishes must have lived. When a fish tries to bite off more than it can chew the consequences can be lethal. Sometimes these deadly lapses in judgment are fossilized. These fossils are called aspirations and, until now, always showed fish
trying to swallow another fish. This specimen is the only known aspiration of a fish predation on a pterosaur.

Details

  • Title: Rhamphorhynchus sp. (pterosaur) Aspidohynchus sp. (fish)

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Flash this QR Code to get the app
Google apps