Named By: | Zambelli in 1973 |
Time Period: | Late Triassic, 210-203 Ma |
Location: | Greenland. Across Western Europe |
Size: | 1 meter wingspan |
Diet: | Piscivore |
Fossil(s): | Several specimens |
Classification: | | Chordata | Reptilia | Pterosauria | Campylognathoididae | |
Eudimorphodon was a pterosaur that was discovered in 1973 by Mario Pandolfi near Bergamo, Italy and described the same year by Rocco Zambelli. The nearly complete skeleton was retrieved from shale deposited during the Late Triassic (mid to late Norian stage), making Eudimorphodon one of the oldest pterosaurs known. It had a wingspan of about 100 centimetres (3.3 ft) and at the end of its long bony tail may have been a diamond-shaped flap like in the later Rhamphorhynchus. If so, the flap may have helped it steer while maneuvering in the air. Eudimorphodon is known from several skeletons, including juvenile specimens.