Batrachognathus

Taxobox
name = "Batrachognathus"
fossil_range = Late Jurassic


image_width = 240px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Pterosauria
subordo = Rhamphorhynchoidea
familia = Anurognathidae
genus = "Batrachognathus"
species = "B. volans"
binomial = "Batrachognathus volans"
binomial_authority = Ryabinin, 1948

"Batrachognathus" ("frog jaw") is an extinct genus of rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian) of the central Asian republic of Kazakhstan. The area of the find (N-W Tien Shan foothills of the Karatau Mountains) is similar in habitat to Solnhofen in Bavaria, Germany.An incomplete and disarticulated skeleton consisting of skull fragments, jaw, vertebrae, ribs, legs and wing bones were found of the species. The upper jaw has 24 peg teeth with the lower jaw to make a high skull and short mouth of 48 mm long.

A similar species was "Anurognathus" with a wingspan of 50 cm, the animal is not preserved with a tail, but whether it had one is debatable.

References

* Dinosaurs and other Prehistoric Creatures, edited by Ingrid Cranfield, 2000 Salamander Books Ltd pg 280-281.
* Rjabinin A. N., 1948, "Remarks on a flying reptile from the Jurassic of the Kara-Tau", Akademia Nauk, Paleontological Institute, Trudy, 15(1): 86-93