Re: Dsungaripterus...

[Brian Choo <bchoo@cyllene.uwa.edu.au>]

Dsungaripterus has no teeth! What you are seeing are blunt bony projections
on the margins of the toothless jaw. Most sources (eg. Wellnhofer's
Encyclopedia) depict D. as a shellfish eater, using the upturned,
tweezer-like jaws to probe for shelled food-items which were then cracked
open by the bony-knobs.

I had fun with the idea of a cancrivorous pterosaur when I hastily did the
picture at:
http://dinosauricon.com/images/dsungaripterus-bc.html

Cheerio
Brian Choo

>        Sorry about the doubt I have not  to be about dinosaurs, but just
>occurred to me... the head of _Dsungaripterus_  (a pterosaur) has some
>strange features, like the small crest over its head and  a small spike
>pointed backward on the back of the head. But what really bothered  me was
>his 'beak' (if it can be called so...) some teeth on the back half of the
>jaws, and on the front half, just a strange 'beak' curved upside... So,
>what may  have been the function of this 'beak' and his diet?