Guidraco

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Guidraco

Guidraco is an extinct flying reptile from the Early Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago, found in northeastern China (Liaoning Province). It is a toothed pterodactyloid pterosaur and is now placed in the family Anhangueridae, subfamily Anhanguerinae, though its exact relationships have been debated.

The only known specimen is the holotype IVPP V17083, a nearly complete skull with the lower jaws and part of the neck, discovered near Lingyuan in the Jiufotang Formation. The genus name combines the Chinese word gui, meaning “malicious ghost,” with the Latin draco, meaning “dragon.” The species name venator means “hunter.”

The skull is about 38 centimeters long. It is long and slender but not sharply pointed, and it lacks a snout crest. A large crest rises on the frontal bones, curving forward, with the crest base extending toward the back of the skull, while the parietal bone is not part of the crest. The skull shows impressions from soft tissue on top of the crest, though these are plant remains. The jaw opening is relatively narrow.

Guidraco had many teeth—82 in total in the head. The upper jaw held 23 teeth, starting with a long, narrow front tooth, followed by three very large, long, pointed, slightly downward-curved teeth. These are followed by three medium-length straight teeth, then a long row of smaller teeth. The lower jaw had 18 teeth, with the first four being especially large, followed by three medium teeth and eleven smaller ones. The teeth come in two types of enamel: some teeth have ridges on the back, while others have smooth enamel and thicker bases. The arrangement of the teeth suggests the front teeth acted like a grabbing tool to catch slippery prey, indicating Guidraco likely fed on fish.

The neck vertebrae are moderately elongated and have large air spaces, and the axis bears a small spine. Although early studies placed Guidraco in different positions within the pterosaur family tree, more recent analyses consistently place it in Anhangueridae, Anhanguerinae, as a sister group to Ludodactylus and Caulkicephalus. This close relationship with a South American species hints at faunal exchange between continents in the Early Cretaceous.