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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