Lower Cretaceous Period

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Dsungeripterus weii

The long pointed jaw and toothless upturned tip are characteristic of this species.  Large crushing teeth are found at the back of the jaw.  Lower Cretaceous of the Jungar basin, Xinjiang Province, China. 

Holotype: Skull and major part of skeleton, Inst. Vert. Paleont. and Paleoanthrop., Acad. Sci, Beijing, China.  No. V-2776.  (Young 1964).

Young C C; 1964, On a New Pterosaurian from Sinkiang, China, Vertebrate Palasiatica, vol.8 pp.221-225, (English Translation)

The photograph shown is of a developed fossil cast of the skull of D.weii which is kept in the Natural History Museum, London.  The original photograph shows the skull in 1982 when the tips of the jaw had been broken and the crest had sustained some damage.  The photograph has been edited to repair the skull.  The skull is 46 cm long.

Points to note are the large blunt teeth, the orbit high at the back of the skull and the distinct post-occipital crest.  The colouration in the crest on the cast have been used by some authors to suggest colour in life!