Dimorphodon

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Pronounced – Die-more-foe-don
Meaning of name – ‘Two formed tooth’
Group – Pterosaur, Reptile
Age – Lower Jurassic, around 195 million years old

Dimorphodon was a type of pterosaur, an extinct group of reptiles that were adapted to powered flight. Dimorphodon would have lived on the tropical islands that surrounded the Jurassic sea. Some scientists believe that their bodies were adapted to climbing trees where they may have fed on insects and small lizards. They may also have eaten fish and scavenged from the ancient shorelines. The head of Dimorphodon seems unusually large for its body and may have been used for grasping prey. This pterosaur had a wingspan of around 1.5 m.

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Walking pterosaurs

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This is a reconstruction of Dimorphodon in a walking pose. Many features of this pterosaurs anatomy had led many experts to think that Dimorphodon was quite a poor flier and spent lots of time climbing trees and walking. Image taken from the 1901 US book 'Dragons of the Air'.