Azhdarcho
Name: Azhdarcho
(Dragon).
Phonetic: Az-dar-ko.
Named By: Nesov - 1984.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea, Azhdarchidae, Azhdarchinae.
Species: A. lancicollis
(type).
Type: Carnivore/piscivore.
Size: Uncertain.
Known locations: Uzbekistan - Bissekty Formation.
Time period: Turonian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Several sets of partial
remains.
The western word for naming a genus dragon is 'draco', in China its 'long', but Azhdarcho is the Uzbek word for such a mythical beast. Azhdarcho is also the centre for the azdarchid line of pterosaurs. The azhdarchids are known for having long necks, the result of neck vertebrae that are longer in other pterosaurs. These long necks are thought to have enabled pterosaurs like Azhdarcho to live like modern storks. This would mean Azhdarcho either taking up position in the shallows and stalking fish, or walking through long grass and snapping up lizards.
Further reading
- The osteology of Azhdarcho lancicollis Nessov,
1984 (Pterosauria,
Azhdarchidae) from the Late Cretaceous of Uzbekistan. - Proceedings of
the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 314 (3):
246–317. - A. O. Averianov - 2010.
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