Dimorphodon (meaning “two-form tooth”) was a pterosaur with a 4 feet (1.2 m) long wingspan. It was a dinosaur, but from an extinct, flying reptile type called Pterosaurs. It had a huge head with deep, wide, toothed jaws resembling the beak of the modern-day puffin, a short neck, and a diamond-shaped flap of skin at the end of the long, pointed tail. Its disproportionately large head may have been for courtship rituals. Unlike most other pterosaurs, Dimorphodon’s legs sprawled out at the sides. making its walking gait clumsy. This might indicate that Dimorphodon spent much of its non-flying time hanging from cliffs or tree braches, holding on with its toe claws. Dimorphodon lived during the early Jurassic period. Dimorphodon was a carnivore and probably ate fish. Dimorphodon flew well using large, light-weight wings. Its long, thin tail with a diamond-shaped flap of skin at the end helped stabilize it in flight. Dimorphodon was a Pterosaur, a flying reptile closely related to the dinosaurs. Pterosaurs probably had a semi-upright stance, and were not dinosaurs. There is a small minority of paleontologists who think that the pterosaurs’ stance could have been upright and that pterosaurs should therefore be included in the clade of dinosaurs (being derived theropods). Either way, dinosaurs and pterosaurs are certainly closely related. Their natural enemies/predators were the Dilophosaurus.
