Coloborhynchus - The Maimed Beak

Coloborhynchus piscator by John Conway. Retrieved via Wikimedia Commons.

Modified from the original posted on the Archosaurophilia Tumblr on July 1, 2015.

Coloborhynchus (”maimed beak”) was an ornithocheirid pterosaur that lived during the Albian age of the Cretaceous Period (approx. 98 Ma). Although at one time or another as many as eight species have been assigned to this genus, many are considered of dubious taxonomic validity, and others (such as Uktenadactylus wadleighi) have been split off into other genera. This may mean that as little as only a single species, the type (C. clavirostris [Owen, 1874]), actually belongs to the genus.

To further complicate matters, some experts have suggested an affinity with the Moroccan pterosaur Siroccopteryx, although that genus was described as an anhanguerid. (The taxonomic row over Anhangueridae and Ornithocheiridae is perhaps better glossed over for now.)

The fossil material for which it was named was found in the UK in the 19th Century, the primary element of which is a weathered jaw tip (hence the genus’ name).

Like other ornithocheirids, Coloborhynchus was probably well-suited not only for flight over marine habitats, but bobbing or even swimming in the sea as well. Its diet probably consisted primarily of fish.

Further Reading