FOR AGES 3 YEARS TO 18 YEARS
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Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
The Europejara was the first Tapejarid among the Pterosaur from the early Cretaceous epoch found in Spain, Europe. The taxonomic classification is characterized within the order Pterodactyloidea, the suborder Azhdarchoidea, the family Tapejaridae, and the subfamily Tapejarinae. The genus Europejara with type species Europejara olcadesorum was first discovered in Las Hoyas in Spain and described by R. Vullo, J. Marugán-Lobón, W. A. Kellner, Angela Buscalioni, B. Gomez, Montserrat de la Fuente and J. Moratalla in 2012. Fossil remains comprising a partial skull and lower jaws are preserved in crushed form on a slab.
If the uniqueness of the Europejara makes you interested in reading more about similar species, you can read about the Haopterus and the Navajodactylus.
No, a Europejara (prehistoric wildlife creature) was a Tapejarid species of Pterosaur. The Pterosaur was characterized as one of the flying reptiles known to have membranous wings. It belonged to the family Tapejaridae and the subfamily Tapejarinae.
Europejara is pronounced as 'yu-rope-har-rah'. The Tapejarid Pterosaur was named by R. Vullo, J. Marugán-Lobón, W. A. Kellner, Angela Buscalioni, B. Gomez, Montserrat de la Fuente and J. Moratalla in 2012. The generic name was derived from the continent name, Europe, and genus, Tapejara, one of the Tapejarid Pterosaurs, which was considered one of its close relatives.
The Europejara was one of the Tapejarid Pterosaurs flying around 112 million years ago during the lower Cretaceous epoch in Spain. Unlike Pterosaurs, Tapejarids were a group of toothless Pterosaurs bearing semicircular crests around their lower jaws from the chin. With toothless upper and lower jaws bearing crests, they primarily fed upon seeds, fruits, and flowering plants.
The Tapejarid Pterosaur lived during the early Cretaceous period.
It is estimated that the Europejara, the first Tapejarid Pterosaur, lived during the early Cretaceous period but it was not known to have a specific extinction range. Though these Tapejarids did not have major threats, the Europejara became extinct due to natural disasters, habitat loss, and predators.
The Europejara pterosaur region was known to be around the continent of Europe, primarily inhabiting Spain. Fossil remains comprise a partial skull, the lower jaw, a portion of an ear and an eye, and a small part of the upper jaw. The first-known Tapejarids were unearthed from the La Huérguina formation. The skull and the lower jaw with crests are preserved in various museums in Europe.
Europejaras were prehistoric flying reptiles having no specified habitat. The Tapejarid Pterosaur was known to live around grasslands, forests, deserts, beaches, woodlands, wetlands, cities, and suburbs.
Results of the search for information about the Europejara suggested that these flying reptiles or Tapejarids were known to fly in the sky. There is no information specifying companions of the Europejara.
While dinosaurs were known to live for 70-80 years, the Europejara living during the early Cretaceous epoch did not have an estimated life span.
Similar to dinosaurs, the Europejara was known as one of the oviparous reptiles.
The description of the appearance of the Europejara was relatively different from the description of dinosaurs. It was known to have membranous wings. While only the partial skull, the lower jaw, a portion of an ear and an eye, and a small part of the upper jaw were uncovered from the La Huérguina formation in 2012, it was suggested to have feathers on a scaly body. It had toothless upper and lower jaws with the lower jaw bearing a semicircular crest from its chin. Crests were curved from the back. Crests were deep around their bases, with the depth estimated to be four times that of its lower jaws. The inner bone of its crest was spongy and the crest was relative to the length of the lower jaw. Nt much is known about the head of these Tapejarids due to the crushed Europejara skull. The form of the Europejara was characterized by studying limited specimens known and discovered so far.
There is no estimated number of bones recorded. The skull, the lower jaw, a portion of an ear and an eye, and a small part of the upper jaw are the only known fossil specimens of the Europejara discovered in 2012.
Unlike dinosaurs, the communication mechanism of the Europejara is not characterized or studied so far.
The roughly estimated length of the Europejara ranged from 12-14 in (30-35 cm).
The Europejara is characterized as one of the flying prehistoric creatures known to have a considerable flying speed.
There is very limited information recorded about the Europejara due to missing specimens and the crushing of its skull. Thus, the weight of the Europejara is unknown.
There are no sex-specific names of the species.
A baby Europejara was often called a chick or a hatchling.
It had toothless lower and upper jaws, and the lower jaw had a large semicircular crest on its chin and snout. Crests were deeper at the base and back edges of crests were recurved. Thus, it was characterized as an herbivore animal primarily feeding upon seeds, fruits, and flowering plants.
These prehistoric creatures discovered in 2012 did not portray an aggressive temperament.
It had toothless lower and upper jaws with crests on its chin and snout. While the diet of the prehistoric creature remains questionable, it was primarily considered a frugivore, a fruit-eater.
There is limited information recorded about the Europejara olcadesorum due to missing specimens and the crushing of the skull and its fragments. It most likely flew in the air and had a wide range of habitats comprising grasslands, forests, deserts, beaches, woodlands, wetlands, cities, and suburbs.
The roughly estimated wingspan was up to 6.6 ft (2 m).
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly prehistoric animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures from our Confuciusornis facts and Thalassomedon facts for kids.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Europejara coloring pages.
Main/Hero image- Model created by Susanne Henßen, Darmstadt, Germany. Foto: H. Zell
Second image- Ghedoghedo
*We've been unable to source an image of a Europejara and have used an image of a Tupandactylus imperator instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of a Europejara, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at [email protected].
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At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
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