Time for a short and sweet picture post of a pterosaur mount in the air. This is one of several IVPP casts of the unusual pterodactyloid pterosaur Dsungaripterus. The dsungaripterid pterosaurs are oft times rather different to others and indeed are a unique group in that they seem to have proportionally rather heavier bones than other pterodactyloids. Dsungaripterus itself is interesting in having the odd combination of an upturned and toothless beak tip and then especially robust and rounded teeth at the back of the jaw. These are ultra weird in that the surrounding bone grows over the teeth such that in older individuals you can’t always see the tooth at all for some sockets, just a rounded lump of bone. I’ll leave it there simply because I have more planned on dsungaripterids and don’t want to write a big post right now, more to come later (at some indeterminate future point).
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Minor point worth noting: animal has been shown with a very strongly extended head-neck joint, as if it’s trying to look upwards without moving its neck.
Ah yes, I had meant to include that image from the Beijing NHM I sent you ages ago to contrast the postures and forgot to include it. Cheers.