Fun Ikrandraco Facts For Kids

The Ikrandraco avatar belongs to the genus of Lonchodraconid pterodactyloid dinosaur and lived during the Early Cretaceous period about 120 million years ago in present-day China and areas of the UK. The fossil remains of the species were found in Jiofotang Formation in Chaoyang, Liaoning province, northeastern China. The specimens found included an incomplete skeleton with a skull and jaws, portions of the neck vertebrate, partial breast bone, parts of both wings, and a portion of the foot.

A second specimen was discovered in an area near Cambridge, UK and the fossils found here included the skull, jaws, and the first three portions of the neck vertebrate. Both the specimens were described by Xiaolin Wang in 2014 but didn't get properly named until 2020 in articles by Xiaolin Wang. The specific name was kept after the film 'Avatar', while the genus name was kept after the Ikran, which were dragon-like flying creatures ridden by the Na'vi people in the film 'Avatar'. The name was kept based on the crest on the lower jaw of the animal that looked like a throat pouch with a hook at the back, while 'draco' means 'dragon' and is quite common for dinosaurs to be named this.

In 2013, the species Ornithocheirus were reviewed by Taissa Rodrigues and Alexander Kellner. Alexander Kellner and Taissa Rodrigues stated that the species name Lonchodectes was a nomen dubium. Alexander and Rodrigues reassigned the species under Lonchodraco. Alexander Averianov reassigned Lonchodectes machaerorhynchus to Ikrandraco and named the Lonchodectes microdon species as a junior synonym of the Lonchodectes machaerorhynchus.

Scroll down to read about the Ikrandraco's life, what they fed on, their habits, and other exciting details! If you want to discover more like the Ikrandraco, take a look at the Neovenator and Dorygnathus.

Was the Ikrandraco a dinosaur?

The Ikrandraco avatar classification was not of a dinosaur. It belongs to the genus of Pterodactyloidea which are flying reptiles.

How do you pronounce 'Ikrandraco'?

The genus name Ikrandraco is pronounced as 'ik-ran-dray-coe'.

What type of prehistoric flying bird was Ikrandraco?

The Ikrandraco avatar was a flying reptile that belongs to the genus of Lonchodraconid pterodactyloid dinosaurs. It lived during the Early Cretaceous period about 120 million years ago in present-day China and areas of the UK. These pterosaur remains were described by Xiaolin Wang but didn't get properly named until 2020. The specific name was given after the film 'Avatar', while the genus name was given after the Ikran, which were dragon like flying creatures ridden by the Na'vi people in the film 'Avatar'.

In which geological period did the Ikrandraco live?

These pterosaurs lived during the Early Cretaceous period about 120 million years ago in present-day China and areas of the UK.

When did the Ikrandraco become extinct?

Dinosaurs, in general, went extinct almost 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period, after living on Earth for about 165 million years. This species existed in the Early Cretaceous period. almost 120 million years ago.

Where did Ikrandraco live?

Ikrandracos were possibly piscivores and therefore fed on fish and other smaller aquatic animals. This means pterosaurs inhabited areas that had terrestrial areas with coastal bodies. They stayed in warm and temperate regions which were suitable for thriving water bodies during the Early Cretaceous period.

What was an Ikrandraco's habitat?

The fossils of these pterosaurs were found in the Jiofotang Formation in Chaoyang, Liaoning province, northeastern China. The fossils of the new species were found in an area near Cambridge, UK. Due to the different land structures now, the pterosaur might have inhabited areas that are presently known to be China and UK.

Who did an Ikrandraco live with?

There is no information as of now on whether these Lower Cretaceous birds stayed in pairs or they stayed alone. We can assume that small pterosaurs like this tended to stay in flocks in order to protect themselves from predators and also to hunt easily.

How long did Ikrandraco live?

There is no information on the lifespan of these species. Only after the excavation of more specimen materials relevant to this are found can this be speculated or proved.

How did they reproduce?

Pterosaurs like other reptiles mated with each other during the breeding season and in the case of this breed, the female dinosaur laid eggs. The eggs hatched after a certain period of time and the newborn birds came out. The adult dinosaurs took care of the newborns until they could move with their parents or go along with their new family.

What did Ikrandraco look like?

The Ikrandraco avatar pterosaur was described from the specimens found which were an incomplete skeleton with a skull and jaws, portions of the neck vertebrate, partial breast bone, parts of both wings, and a portion of the foot. Xiaolin Wang described the species but the name wasn't certified until 2020. This pterosaur species had an elongated and large skull and measured about 11.28 in (28.65 cm) in length. It had a blade like structure called a crest which was quite prominent under the lower jaw, while there was no crest on the upper jaw. This structure on the lower jaw is only present in the Ikrandraco. This feature of the lower jaw was quite unusual as these features have never been seen in other pterosaur species.

The name of the type species was kept based on the dragon like creature in the movie 'Avatar' and that was due to this crest on the lower jaw which looked like a throat pouch. The back of the crest looked as if it was a large hook. The upper jaw of the species had possibly 21 teeth or more teeth while the lower jaw had almost 19 teeth.

The second specimen had a skull, jaws, and the first three portions of the neck vertebrate. The skull was about 10.56 in (26.28 cm) and also had a crest on the lower jaw which was upturned at the back, which made it look like a throat pouch. The edge of the jaws of the second specimen had a density of 4.5 teeth per cm.

How many bones did Ikrandraco have?

According to scientific reports, there haven't been complete fossils discovered of this pterosaur yet and therefore it's not possible to state the number of bones this species had.

How did they communicate?

There is no specific mention of how they communicated as it is quite difficult to know, but they definitely didn't have modern means of communication. Like any other animal, pterosaurs also communicated by making sounds and using their body language. These might have included hoots and hollers to communicate as well. Being unusual birds with a throat pouch, they might have also made vibratory sounds.

How big was Ikrandraco?

The wingspan of the creature was about 59 in (1.5 m), while the animals were almost 30 in (0.762 m) in length. This makes it almost six times smaller than the Pteranodon which had a wingspan of about 275 in (7 m).

How fast could an Ikrandraco move?

This Pterodactyloidea had a longer wingspan that helped it to fly at great speed. They mostly lived in areas with coastal bodies and therefore could catch prey in mid-flight with their long snout.

How much did Ikrandraco weigh?

There is no information on the weight of these species and only after the excavation of more specimen materials relevant to this are found can this be speculated or proved.

What were the male and female names of the species?

There is no specific name for the male or female dinosaurs of this species and are commonly known as Ikrandraco or Ikrandraco avatar. The search for the rest of the fossils is still going on and only after the complete discovery of the significant fossils can the classification be done.

What would you call a baby Ikrandraco?

A newborn dinosaur is known as hatchling or nestling. This classification is common for most dinosaur species. There is no specific information on the names of newborns for this dinosaur bird as of now.

What did they eat?

These pterosaurs were piscivores like the Caulkicephalus. The diet of these pterosaurs consisted of fish and other smaller aquatic animals. The crest pouch-like features in these pterosaurs supposedly helped when feeding on fish and storing them for feeding on later. This was quite unusual as no other Cretaceous pterosaur had this feature. The teeth on the lower jaw also helped during the feeding process.

How aggressive were they?

Based on research, dinosaurs are divided into two groups. Sauropods were herbivores and did not attack each other or other dinosaurs while theropods were meat-eaters and attacked each other and the other dinosaurs as well. This Early Cretaceous Pterodactyloidea was quite aggressive but didn't attack other dinosaurs for their safety.

Did you know...

The crest pouch on the pterosaur was quite similar to the modern-day animal Pelican. Ikrandraco was distantly related to Liaoningopterus and Guidraco but were quite different in regards to features.

What does Ikrandraco mean?

The specific name was given after the film 'Avatar', while the genus name was kept after the Ikran. The Ikran were dragon like flying creatures ridden by the Na'vi people in the film 'Avatar'. The name was kept based on the large crest structure on the lower jaw of the animal that looked like a throat pouch, while 'draco' means 'dragon' and it is quite common for dinosaurs to be named this.

What climate did the Ikrandraco live in?

These pterosaurs inhabited areas that had terrestrial areas with coastal bodies. They stayed in warm and temperate regions which were suitable for thriving water bodies.

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 Tupandactylus fun facts, or Thalassomedon facts for kids pages.

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

Main image by Morosaurus millenii

Second image by Morosaurus millenii