Fun Coloborhynchus Facts For Kids

During the Jurassic and the Cretaceous period, numerous pterosaurs became widespread throughout the world. The pterosaurs were flying animals whose size varied from small to large. They coexisted with the dinosaur species but were not actually considered to be dinosaurs. There might exist confusion that they are a type of flying dinosaurs, however, in reality, they were a community of flying reptiles. The pterosaurs included many genera under the clade. The Coloborhynchus is one of the earlier genera of the Coloborhunchus that belonged to the family Ornithocheiridae.

The literal meaning of their genetic name is truncated snout or maimed beak. The name of the type species is C. clavirostris and it was first named by Richard Owen in 1874. The genus contained a large number of species under it all of which were grouped together owing to some similarities in the specimen discovered. Nick Longrich by examining the specimen assigned them as one of the Ornithocheirines and they were most closely related to the Siroccopteryx and Uktenadactylus. To know more facts about the pterosaur, keep on reading these amazing facts.

For similar content, check out ludodactylus and caviramus facts too.

Was the Coloborhynchus a dinosaur?

The Coloborhynchus is an extinct genus of the pterosaurs that lived during the Lower Cretaceous age. Therefore, these animals cannot be considered dinosaurs.

How do you pronounce 'Coloborhynchus'?

The Coloborhynchus is pronounced as Co-lo-bo-rink-us. The term originates from the combination of two Greek terms and the meaning of the genus name translates to maimed beak or truncated snout.

What type of prehistoric flying bird was a Coloborhynchus?

The Coloborhynchus was not a flying bird, it was actually a flying reptile of the Lower Cretaceous period. It was a type of pterosaur of the family Ornithocheiridae. The phylogeny of the Coloborhynchus pterosaurs becomes a bit difficult since the remains of the only known specimen were found in fragments. This makes their classification process a bit complex. The Ornithocheirids were characterized by an elongated snout and sharp teeth. It helped them to pluck and prey on fishes in the wild. The Coloborhynchus specimen that was collected had features similar to the Ornithocheirid species like Uktenadactylus.

In which geological period did the Coloborhynchus live?

The Coloborhynchus was a genus of pterosaurs that emerged during the Early Cretaceous period. The different species of the genus belong to different geological stages of the Cretaceous. The Coloborhynchus species of England existed during the Valanginian stage of the Cretaceous period while some other species are found in the lower or upper stages. Most of these pterosaurs emerged between the Albian and Cenomanian ages which continued from 113 million years ago up to 94 million years ago approximately. The type species C. clavirostris is assumed to exist from the Aptian up to the Albian age of the Upper Cretaceous.

When did the Coloborhynchus become extinct?

Different species of Coloborhyncus were found in different geological ages. Some lived up to 140 million years ago while some became extinct around 94 million years ago.

Where did a Coloborhynchus live?

The Coloborhynchys type specimen, C. clavirostris was described only from the partial upper jaw that was discovered from the ‬Santana Formation of Brazil.  The fossils of Coloborhynchus capito were collected from the Cambridge Greensand of England. Other known locations from where their fossils have been discovered are USA and Texas.

What was a Coloborhynchus' habitat?

The preferred habitats of pterosaurs were quarries and ridges. The Coloborhynchys possibly preferred living in such habitats too.

Who did a Coloborhynchus live with?

In many parts of the pterosaur range, juvenile pterosaur bonebeds have been discovered which indicates that at least the juveniles lived by forming herds. However, there is no evidence that the Coloborhyncus individuals lived in social groups.

How long did a Coloborhynchus live?

It is not possible to assign a precise time period for so many species of the genus. All of them existed during various geological periods.

How did they reproduce?

Reproduction was possibly oviparous. They laid eggs and juveniles emerged from them. There is no other data regarding the breeding process of the pterosaurs.

What did a Coloborhynchus look like?

The various species Coloborhynchus showed a variety of physical distinctions. Typically, they were medium-sized pterosaurs with a flattened snout rather than tapering endings like the other pterosaurs. Some of them had a head crest but some species lacked such a crest. The upper haw that was discovered showed that they had distinctive dental formulae which distinguished them from other genera.

How many bones did a Coloborhynchus have?

The number of bones present in a Coloborhyncus is not known. They are classified based on the fragmentary upper jaw that was discovered in Brazil.

How did they communicate?

Similar to all pterosaurs, the Coloborhynchus communicated by vocalizations as well.

How big was a Coloborhynchus?

The Coloborhynchus size has not been determined but the Coloborhynchus wingspan is about 5 ft (1.5 m) long. Their wingspan was similar in size of the Leptorhynchos.

How fast could a Coloborhynchus move?

The speed of a Coloborhynchus has not been determined.

How much did a Coloborhynchus weigh?

The weight of the species of the Coloborhynchus could not be determined from their remaining fossils.

What were the male and female names of the species?

The male and female do not have specific names, both were called Coloborhynchus.

What would you call a baby Coloborhynchus?

A baby Coloborhynchus is known as a flapling.

What did they eat?

The pterosaurs were piscivores in nature, they mainly preyed on fishes.

How aggressive were they?

The carnivorous pterosaurs were quite aggressive towards marine invertebrates and fishes.

Did you know...

A possible species of the Coloborhynchus called C. capito was known to be the largest toothed pterosaur.

What does Coloborhynchus mean?

The Coloborhyncus was a type of pterosaur that lived during the early Cretaceous period. Their type species was named first in the 19th century by Richard Owen during the time when many pterosaur remains were being discovered and named. Numerous species have also been assigned to the genus by examining the similarities of a particular specimen with the specimen of C. clavirostris. The literal meaning of the Coloborhynchus is based on the common characteristic feature that was noticed in each specimen. The species of this group were characterized by a truncated beak and a flattened snout tip. The genus name originates from the combination of two Greek terms namely, kolovos and rhynchus. The meaning of the Greek term kolovos is truncated or shortened. Rhynchus refers to the snout of the animal. The combination of these two words translates to maimed beak in English. However, the short nature of the snout might also be a result of erosion rather than being the characteristic feature of the genus. The specific name of the animal, C. clavirostris refers to the cross-sectional form of the snout. The meaning of the specific name is the key snout.

How many species of Coloborhynchus are there?

Many species have been assigned the genus Coloborhyncus over the past years. Man species have also been shuffled or transferred to other related genera from this genus. After being affected by erosion and calamities, it becomes tough to classify different types of specimens under one genus. The materials that were being discovered in the ‬Santana Formation of Brazil were all being classified as Coloborhynchus during that time. However, as time went by differences between the actual Coloborhynchus skeleton and the other classified specimens became clear. The type specimen of the genus is C. clavirostris. Two other species called C. ligabuei and C. piscator were also assigned to the genus by various scientists over the years. Apart from them, there are also many other species that were assigned to the genus once but are now re-assigned to other genera. Some of these species include C. curveri that are now classified as  Cimoliopterus, C. sedgwicki that are currently classified as  Camposipterus, and C. wadleighi classified as C. wadleighi. The specimen of the species C. piscator is considered to be similar to the C. robustus and assigned as Anhanguera.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly prehistoric animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these libonectes fun facts, or revueltosaurus facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable winged dinosaur coloring pages.

Main image by Pieter VanderLinden

Second image by Eduard Solà Vázquez