- Peteinosaurus
Taxobox
name = "Peteinosaurus"
fossil_range =Late Triassic
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Sauropsid a
ordo =Pterosauria
superfamilia =Rhamphorhynchoidea
familia =Dimorphodontidae
genus = "Peteinosaurus"
binomial = "Peteinosaurus zambellii"
binomial_authority = Wild, 1978The prehistoric reptile "Peteinosaurus" ("Peh-TEIN-o-sore-us") ("winged lizard") was a genus belonging to the
Pterosauria . It existed in the lateTriassic period in the middleNorian (about 221-210million years ago ). The species name, "zambellii", honoursRocco Zambelli , the curator of the Bergamo natural history museum. The genus has been described by the German paleontologistRupert Wild in 1978. Three fossils have been found nearCene ,Italy : the first, theholotype MCSNB 2886 is however fragmentary and disarticulated; the second, the articulatedparatype MCSNB 3359, lacks any diagnostic features of "Peteinosaurus" and thus might be a different species."Peteinosaurus" is one of the oldest-known pterosaurs, and was tiny when compared to some later species, such as "
Pteranodon ". Like most pterosaurs, "Peteinosaurus" had bones that were strong but very light, allowing it to have large wings (60 cm. wingspan) but a very low body weight.An insectivorous lifestyle has been attributed to "Peteinosaurus".
The paratype has a long tail (20 cm) made more stiff by ossified tendons stretched along the vertebrae; this feature is common among pterosaurs of the Triassic. "Peteinosaurus" is trimorphodontic, with three types of conical teeth.
In popular culture
"Peteinosaurus" was featured in the first episode of the popular British documentary series "
Walking with Dinosaurs " (1999), though it doesn't have much screentime. The animation returned for a cameo in the 2003 spin-off "Sea Monsters ", but wasn't identified (it can be presumed it was the same creature).References
*Haines, Tim, and Paul Chambers. The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life. Pg. 72. Canada: Firefly Books Ltd., 2006.
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