Pterodaustro Pronunciation

Fun Facts

• ✓Pterodaustro had more teeth than almost any other known vertebrate animal: up to 1,000 bristle-like teeth packed into its lower jaw alone, beating out most fish and reptiles in sheer tooth count.
• ✓Scientists from Argentina and Spain published a 2008 study arguing that Pterodaustro likely had pinkish or reddish coloration because its filter-feeding diet of brine shrimp would have deposited the same pink-producing pigments (carotenoids) found in modern flamingos.
• ✓Pterodaustro fossils were first described scientifically in 1969 by legendary Argentine paleontologist Jose Bonaparte, one of the most prolific dinosaur hunters in South American history, who named dozens of species over his career.
• ✓Fossilized eggs and embryos of Pterodaustro were discovered in Argentina and described in detail in 2004, giving scientists a rare window into how pterosaur babies developed inside the egg before hatching.
• ✓The Lagarcito Formation in San Luis Province, Argentina, where many Pterodaustro fossils were found, preserves an ancient shallow lake environment, which perfectly matches the flamingo-like wading and filter-feeding lifestyle scientists have reconstructed for this animal.