Scientific name: Ornithocheirid (Probably Ornithocheirus simus, (Owen, 1861)) – Pterosaur
Location: Gadoufaoua, Téneré Desert, Niger.
Geological Formation: Elrhaz Fm
Age: Lower Cretaceous, Aptian/Albian stage ( 113 million years)
Size (long): 7.2cm = 2.84 Inch
REF.: W5
DESCRIPTION:
Ornithocheirus simus, is only known from fragmentary jaw tips. It bore a distinctive convex “keeled” crest on its snout similar to its relatives. Ornithocheirus had relatively narrow jaw tips compared to the related Coloborhynchus and Tropeognathus, which had prominently-expanded rosettes of teeth, as well as a more developed “keeled” crest compared to Ornithocheirus. Another feature that made Ornithocheirus unique and unlike its relatives, was that its teeth of were mostly vertical, rather than set at an outward-pointing angle.
It was believed in the past that Ornithocheirus was one of the largest pterosaurs to have existed, with a wingspan possibly measuring 40 feet (12.2 m) wide.