arrow Anhanguera
Period of life:
112-93 MYA
Era/period:
Cretaceous
Habitat:
Brazil
Length:
1.4
Anhanguera Dino Pet
Description
Anhanguera was a large piscivorous pterosaur with a wingspan of 4.5 meters. Like many other members of the family, it had a rounded crest in the front of the upper and lower jaws, filled with beveled, conical and hooked teeth of various sizes and orientations. The narrowed jaws of the pterosaur had a spoon-shaped extension at the end.
A 2003 study found that anyanguera kept its head at an angle to the ground because of the structure of the inner ear that helps animals maintain balance. This pterosaur had bony rings in its eye pits called sclerotic rings. These discs supported the eyes of the predator. The fossil skull of this pterosaur was discovered in early Cretaceous sediments of the Brazilian Santana Formation and described in 1985. The name Anyanguera is taken from the mythology of the indigenous tribe of Tupi culture and means "ancient devil".