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Pterodaustro  |
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This Pterodactyloid is unusual in that it has developed a highly specialized feeding mechanism. The jaws are exceedingly long and gently curved upwards. The jaws are filled with thin bristlelike teeth; very similar in style and in function to the baleen of blue whales. Pterodaustro (To hear pronunciation choose: Mac/Win) most likely fed on tiny invertebrates: zooplankton and krill. Interesting enough, flamingos derive their pink colour from pigments found in these invertebrates (the pigments are actually found in algae, which the invertebrates consume). So it has been hypothesized that Pterodaustro may have been pink in colouration... Pterodaustro was medium sized, having a wing-span about two meters in length and having only been found in Brazil. |
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 © Patrick Lyons 1998. |
