Fun Tupuxuara Facts For Kids

The Tupuxuara (Tupuxuara longicristatus) belongs to the genus of Pterodactyl pterosaur from the early cretaceous period. The fossil remains of the Tupuxuara were found in the Romualdo Formation of the Santana formation group in Brazil. This genus was named and described by Alexander Kellner and Almeida Campos in the year 1988. The generic name of the species is taken from the mythology story of Tupi and it denotes a familiar spirit. The specific name on the other hand means long-crests in Latin.

The holotype remains of the species were found in the Romualdo Formation of the Santana Formation group in Brazil. It consisted of a snout and partial wing bones more fossils were found of the species later and there has been a difference in morphology of every fossil found. Researchers explained this to be due to the difference in age and sex of the species.

Kellner found a new member or new species of Tupuxuara later in 1994 and the name was given Tupuxuara leonardii. The specific name was kept to honor Giuseppe Leonardi. The holotype of the species consisted of the fragmentary remains of a skull and rounded crest. Another new species of Tupuxuara was given the name by Mark Witton and was called Tupuxuara deliradamus. The holotype of the species consisted of a skull.

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

Was the Tupuxuara a dinosaur?

Tupuxuara's classification was not of a dinosaur. It belongs to the genus of Pterosaur, which are flying reptiles.

How do you pronounce 'Tupuxuara'?

The Tupuxuara pronunciation goes as Too-pooh-Hwa-rah.

What type of prehistoric flying bird was a Tupuxuara?

The Tupuxuara (Tupuxuara longicristatus) were large, toothless pterosaurs with big crests. It belongs to the genus of Pterodactyl pterosaurs. The species belonged to the Early Cretaceous period. The fossil remains of the Tupuxuara were found in the Romualdo Formation of the Santana formation group in Brazil. The generic name of the species is taken from the mythology story of Tupi and it denotes a familiar spirit. The specific name on the other hand means long-crests in Latin.

In which geological period did the Tupuxuara live?

This pterosaur species belongs to the Early Cretaceous period.

When did the Tupuxuara become extinct?

Dinosaurs, in general, went extinct almost 65 million years ago, that is, at the end of the Cretaceous period, after living on the earth for about 165 million years. But this species existed in the Early cretaceous period, which was about 145 million years ago.

Where did a Tupuxuara live?

The Tupuxuara animal was a fish-eater and therefore chose areas like coastal regions and rocky regions so that they can hunt. They also were fruit-eater and therefore might have also lived in areas with dense vegetation.

What was a Tupuxuara's habitat?

The fossils of this pterosaur species were found in the Romualdo Formation of the Santana formation group in Brazil. Later, more fossils were found by different researchers in the Santana Formation in Brazil.

Who did a Tupuxuara live with?

There is no information as of now on whether these Early Cretaceous birds stayed in groups or they stayed alone. But if assumed, small pterosaurs like this tend to stay in flocks in order to protect themselves from predators and also to hunt easily.

How long did a Tupuxuara live?

There is no information on the life span of these species and after the evacuation 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 hatch after a certain period of time and the newborn birds came out. The adult dinosaurs took care of the newborns till they could move with their parents or go along with their new family.

What did a Tupuxuara look like?

The Tupuxuara skull was found in the second excavation from the Santana Formation in Brazil. The skull was in fragmentary remains. The Tupuxuara crest was well-rounded. Crests according to researchers were of varied morphology due to the difference in age or sex. Some researchers also assume that the crests are different due to the species being different.

The first excavation in Brazil led researchers to find the holotype specimens of a snout and partial wing bones in Brazil itself. the snout led the researcher to realize that like other pterosaurs, even this species was toothless. The wing bones however helped them to understand that the Tupuxuara species and the new species of Tupuxuara all had larger wingspan and could fly at great speed.

How many bones did a Tupuxuara have?

The skeleton of the Tupuxuara or the new member or new species of Tupuxuara- Tupuxuara leonardii and Tupuxuara deliradamus has not been excavated fully, due to which claiming how many bones they had is quite impossible. Till proper excavations are done in Brazil, there can't be any analysis.

How did they communicate?

There is no specific mention on how they communicated as it is quite difficult to find, 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. They might have included hoots and hollers to communicate as well.

How big was a Tupuxuara?

The length of this species was about 216-236 in (5.5-6 m), which makes it almost five times bigger than the sea eagle, which is almost 23-41 in (0.6-1 m) in length.

How fast could a Tupuxuara move?

These species had a huge wingspan, which led the researchers to claim that they were speedy flyers and could fly at great speed.

How much did a Tupuxuara weigh?

The weight of this species is about 50.2 lb (22.8 kg), which makes it almost 1.4-3.1 lb (0.6-1.4 kg)

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 T.longicristatus, and for the other species, they are known as T.deliradamus and T.leonardii. The search for the rest of the fossils in the Santana Formation of Brazil 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 Tupuxuara?

The newborn dinosaur was known as hatchling or nestling. This classification was 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?

The Tupuxuara was either a fish or a fruit eater. They might have fed on fishes found during that era or relied on fruits available in the forests of Brazil. There has been quite a doubt regarding this and some researchers even think that they used to prey on terrestrial dinosaurs.

How aggressive were they?

Based on research, dinosaurs are divided into two groups where the sauropods are herbivores and don't attack each other or other dinosaurs, while theropods were meat-eaters and attacked each other and the other dinosaurs as well. These early cretaceous pterosaurs were quite aggressive but didn't attack other dinosaurs for their safety.

Did you know...

The Tupuxuara is a member of the Azhdarchoid pterosaur group. Kellner assigned this species to the Azhdarchoidea group under Tapejaridae, which is a group of pterosaurs that existed during the early cretaceous period. However, the classification done was quite wrong as the Tupuxuara has more common features with the Azhdarchidae like the Quetzalcoatlus than the Tapejara.

Kellner found a new member species of Tupuxuara later in 1994 and the name was given Tupuxuara leonardii.

What does Pterodactyl mean?

The Pterodactylus is an extinct genus of pterosaurs whose members are commonly known as pterodactyls. These reptiles are able to fly and have huge wingspan. The very first Pterodactyl that was named was Pterodactylus antiquus.

How many flying dinosaurs were there?

There are over 130 recognized specimens of the Pterodactyl and the fossils can be found all across the globe from Asian countries to American nations and more.

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 Utahraptor fun facts, or Antetonitrus facts for kids.

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

Second image by User:MatthiasKabel.