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Natural History

Darwinopterus

Darwinopterus
Darwinopterus

Darwinopterus (meaning "Darwin's wing") is a genus of pterosaur, discovered in China and named after biologist Charles Darwin. Between 30 and 40 fossil specimens have been identified, all collected from the Tiaojishan Formation, which dates to the middle Jurassic period, 160.89–160.25 Ma ago. The type species, D. modularis, was described in February 2010. D. modularis was the first known pterosaur to display features of both long-tailed ("rhamphorhynchoid") and short-tailed (pterodactyloid) pterosaurs, and was described as a transitional fossil between the two groups. Three additional species, D. camposi, D. linglongtaensis, and D. robustodens, were described from the same fossil beds in February 2025, December 2010, and June 2011, respectively.

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Black-rumped magpie.

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Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.

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