#aerodactylus

yabadabadu

A Flintstone fanart done with both color markers and Prismacolor

Just a joke I wanted to make regarding when they mention brands/franchises in a cartoon even if they already have their equivalent in their respective universe. Along with the fact that paleontologists sometimes name animals in reference to something from pop culture

And another excuse to color a known character with a color palette from an obscure and really especific old merchandise. In this case is because of these vintage magnets; image from toycollectorphotographs, you can find them on Instagram if you like vintage toys and other cartoon merch

Me elsewhere:

Instagram

One of our Aerodactylus individuals mid-preen. Gotta keep the pycnofibres clean.

Scientific Name: Aerodactylus scolopaciceps Diet: Fish and other small aquatic organisms Projected Natural Lifespan: 6-8 years Wingspan: Up to 1 meter (3 feet), generally smaller Locality: Bavaria, Germany (Solnhofen Plattenkalk); 150-148 Ma Exhibit: Solnhofen Aviary, Aquarium

About: Yes, this is the real thing. Aerodactylus is a small pterosaur closely related to the similarly-named Pterodactylus. It’s known from multiple very well-preserved fossils - all juveniles. It’s pretty similar to Pterodactylus, really. Superb preservation of soft tissue show a low triangular crest on the top of the head and a crest projecting posteriorly, as well as tiny beaks at the very tips of the jaws. The expandable throat pouch on its neck is covered with long pycnofibres, which easily distinguishes it from our Pterodactylus. Both are pretty similar ecologically, wading on the shore for small prey such as fish.

At Huxley Aerodactylus is one of six pterosaur species that live in the Solnhofen Aviary, part of the Jurassic section of the Aquarium. The Aerodactylus will often form temporary flocks with Pterodactylus and Ctenochasma when away from roosting sites.

Notable Behavior Several of our shore pterosaurs live mostly in monogamous pairs. Aerodactylus is no different. Two Aerodactylus have formed a pair, and the others have formed a trio. The groups of Aerodactylus stay together to a greater extent than the other pterosaurs, eating, roosting, and flying about together. And they chirp adorably. One area of the exhibit is used as a shared roosting site for Aerodactylus and Ctenochasma; surprisingly, they seem not to mind each other (in contrast to the other pterosaurs, who tend to roost far from each other). Our best guess is they don’t see each other as competition due to differing diets.

The first generation of Pokemon games is currently unique in that it introduced three evolutionary lines of fossil Pokemon: two more easily obtainable fossils that can each evolve once; and a single, non-evolving fossil that’s harder to obtain, but that boasts much greater power.  This non-evolver is Aerodactyl, which strangely breaks the marine invertebrate theme the Gen 1 fossils had.  It’s supposedly based on a pterosaur, but it doesn’t really look like one; it’s just a big wyvern.

Later games gave Aerodactyl a Mega Evolution, which basically does nothing but stick a bunch of pointy rocks onto it.  I’m as big a fan of rock monsters as anybody, but Aerodactyl has always been a little bit of a disappointment to me; I’m still holding out hope that we’ll eventually get a more pterosaur-like pterosaur Pokemon.