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Cryodrakon

Say it: KRY-oh-DRAK-on
Name means: “cold dragon”5
Ate: FishFlying reptilesLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Cryodrakon was a huge flying reptile that soared over Canada about 76 million years ago. It was not a dinosaur, but a pterosaur with a wingspan as wide as a small airplane. This cold dragon ruled the skies and snatched fish from ancient rivers.51

Fun fact: pterosaurs flew over the dinosaurs, but they were their cousins, not dinosaurs themselves.
Lived
84 to 72 million years ago5
Late Cretaceous
Fossils found in
Alberta, Canada, in the Dinosaur Park Formation51
Wingspan
10 m (33 ft)32
most commonly estimated for adult
Weight
150 kg to 544 kg (331 to 1,200 lb)2
range of estimates from different sources
Top speed
about 90 km/h (56 mph)
Flying, estimate
What did Cryodrakon eat?
Cryodrakon was a carnivore that likely ate small animals like fish, amphibians, reptiles, and maybe small dinosaurs. It had a toothless, chopstick-like beak and probably swallowed its prey whole, similar to a giant stork.

When did it live?

Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How wide were its wings?

Cryodrakon wings about 10 m tip to tip (33 ft)A bicycle about 1.8 m (5.9 ft)A car about 4.5 m (15 ft)An elephant, the biggest land animal today about 6.5 m (21 ft)

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 27 dogs
wings as wide as 2 cars in a rowas heavy as 110 watermelonsas heavy as 29 kindergarten kidsas heavy as 17 school kidscould fly across a whole football pitch in 4.2 seconds

How big was Cryodrakon compared to YOU?

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How fast was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Cryodrakon was first described in 2019, making it a very recently discovered pterosaur.5

2

It lived during the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous, between 83.6 and 72.2 million years ago.1

3

The type specimen of Cryodrakon is a set of postcranial bones, meaning skull and jaws are not yet known.5

4

Cryodrakon belonged to a group called Azhdarchidae, which includes some of the largest flying animals ever.1

5

Its fossils come from two locations in Alberta, Canada, both from the same rock formation.5

AI-madeAI-made picture of Cryodrakon
An AI-made picture of how Cryodrakon might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.
you asked

Most asked questions about Cryodrakon

?How big was Cryodrakon?

Adult Cryodrakon had a wingspan of about 10 metres (33 feet), as wide as a small airplane. Younger individuals were smaller, with wingspans around 5 metres (16 feet).24

?What did Cryodrakon eat?

Cryodrakon was a carnivore that likely ate small animals like fish, amphibians, reptiles, and maybe small dinosaurs. It had a toothless, chopstick-like beak and probably swallowed its prey whole, similar to a giant stork.2

?When did Cryodrakon live?

Cryodrakon lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 76.7 to 74.3 million years ago.4

?Where was Cryodrakon found?

Cryodrakon fossils were discovered in Alberta, Canada, in the Dinosaur Park Formation. The first bones were found in 1972, and the most complete skeleton was uncovered in 1992.24

?Is Cryodrakon a dinosaur?

No, Cryodrakon is not a dinosaur. It is a pterosaur, a type of flying reptile that lived at the same time as dinosaurs.24

?Why is it called Cryodrakon?

The name Cryodrakon means cold dragon in Ancient Greek. It is a nod to its Canadian home.24

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For dino experts

Scientific name
Cryodrakon
Named by
Hone et al. 20195
Group
Flying reptiles
Family / clade
Azhdarchidae5
Classification
Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea > Azhdarchidae5
Age of the rocks
84 to 72 million years (Campanian)5
Rock formations
Dinosaur Park5
Countries
Canada5
Fossil records
2 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery
Cryodrakon was named and described by scientists David Hone, Michael Habib, and Francois Therrien in 2019, based on fossils found in Alberta, Canada.51
Still debated
Because the skull and jaws have not been found, scientists are not sure of the exact shape of Cryodrakon's head or how it captured prey.5

Where the facts come from

  1. PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
  2. Cryodrakon | The Canadian Encyclopedia (thecanadianencyclopedia.ca)
  3. Cryodrakon (en.wikipedia.org)
  4. Cryodrakon (en.wikipedia.org)
  5. Cryodrakon in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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More from the same group: Flying reptiles

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Also from the same time: Late Cretaceous

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