Dimorphodon

Dimorphodon; Temporal range: Early Jurassic (Sinemurian),
	Reconstruction skeleton in flying pose at the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Clade:	†Macronychoptera
Family:	†Dimorphodontidae
Subfamily:	†Dimorphodontinae; Seeley, 1870
Genus:	†Dimorphodon; Owen, 1859
Type species
	†Dimorphodon macronyx; (Buckland, 1829)
Synonyms
	Pterodactylus macronyx Buckland, 1829; Pterodactylus (Rhamphorhynchus) macronyx (Buckland, 1829);

Dimorphodon (/daɪˈmɔːrfədɒn/ dy-MOR-fə-don) was a genus of medium-sized pterosaur from Europe during the early Jurassic Period (about 201-191 million years ago).^[1] It was named by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1859. Dimorphodon means "two-form tooth", derived from the Greek di- (δι-) meaning 'two', morphḗ (μορφή) meaning 'shape' and odṓn (ὀδών) meaning 'tooth', referring to the fact that it had two distinct types of teeth in its jaws – which is comparatively rare among reptiles. The diet of Dimorphodon has been questioned among researchers, with earlier interpretations depicting it as an insectivore or a piscivore. Recent studies have suggested that Dimorphodon likely hunted small vertebrates, though it still would have consumed soft invertebrates like insects.

^ Müller R.T., Ezcurra M.D., Garcia M.S., Agnolín F.L., Stocker M.R., Novas F.E., Soares M.B., Kellner A.W.A. & Nesbitt S.J. (2023). ”New reptile shows dinosaurs and pterosaurs evolved among diverse precursors”. Nature 620(7974): p. 589–594. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06359-z

[Müller_et.al.2023-1] Müller R.T., Ezcurra M.D., Garcia M.S., Agnolín F.L., Stocker M.R., Novas F.E., Soares M.B., Kellner A.W.A. & Nesbitt S.J. (2023). ”New reptile shows dinosaurs and pterosaurs evolved among diverse precursors”. Nature 620(7974): p. 589–594. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06359-z

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