What is Anurognathus?
{{italictitle}} {{Taxobox | color = | name = ''Anurognathus'' | fossil_range = [[Upper Jurassic]] 150mya | image =Anurognathus.jpg | image_width = 240px | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | classis = [[Sauropsid]]a | ordo = [[Pterosauria]] | subordo = [[Rhamphorhynchoidea]] | familia = [[Anurognathid]]ae | genus = '''''Anurognathus''''' | binomial = ''Anurognathus ammoni'' | binomial_authority = Döderline, [[1923]] }} '''''Anurognathus''''' was a [[genus]] of small [[Pterosaur#Rhamphorhyncoids|rhamphorhynchoid]] [[pterosaur]]s which lived 150 million years ago, in the Upper [[Jurassic]] period. It had a short head with pin-like teeth for catching insects. It was found in the [[Solnhofen limestone]], the same place as ''[[Archaeopteryx]]''. They grew up to 35 cms wingspan. Although it is in the long-tailed pterosaur group [[Rhamphorhynchoidea]], its tail was comparatively short. This was an [[adaptation]] which made it more manoeuvrable in hunting.<ref name=DU06>{{cite book |last=Unwin |first=David M. |title=The Pterosaurs: from deep time |url=https://archive.org/details/pterosaursfromde00unwi |year=2006 |publisher=Pi Press |location=New York |isbn=0-13-146308-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/pterosaursfromde00unwi/page/246 246]}}</ref> According to Döderlein the reduced tail of ''Anurognathus'' was similar to the [[pygostyle]] of modern birds.<ref name=Cran>Anurognathus. In: Cranfield, Ingrid (ed). ''The illustrated directory of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures''. London: Salamander Books. 292-295.</ref> With an estimated wingspan of fifty centimetres (20 inches) and a nine centimetre long body (skull included), its weight was limited: forty grammes for a specimen with a 35 centimetre wingspan.<ref>Witton M.P. 2008. A new approach to determining pterosaur body mass and its implications for pterosaur flight. ''Zitteliania'' '''B28''': 143-159</ref> Later a second, smaller, specimen was found, probably of a subadult individual. Its slab and counterslab are separated and both were sold to private collection