Pterosaur Tooth

Kem Kem Beds, Morocco

Mid-Cretaceous (100 - 94 Million Years Old)

Pterosaurs first evolved in the Triassic Period, around 228 million years ago. While pterosaurs aren't dinosaurs, they are both archosaurs (meaning "ruling reptiles"), a group which also includes crocodiles and birds.

The early ancestors of pterosaurs were reptiles that walked on two legs.  With their forelimbs freed up for other uses, these limbs eventually evolved into wings and for the first time in Earth's history, vertebrates took flight.

Through the Jurassic and Cretaceous, pterosaurs evolved into many forms.  When on the ground, some species walked on two legs, while others used all four, and while many species of pterosaur were small, some grew to be the largest flying animals to ever exist with wingspans exceeding 30ft (the size of a small plane).

It was once thought that the number of pterosaur species were on the decline throughout the Cretaceous period, smaller pterosaurs being outcompeted by birds. We now know that wasn't the case and that there was actually very little overlap between the ecological niches occupied by birds and pterosaurs. Pterosaurs remained abundant and diverse right up until the end of the Cretaceous period, when a massive asteroid hit the Earth causing the sudden mass extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs and most birds.

The Pterosaur tooth you've scanned comes from the Kem Kem Beds of eastern Morocco. This geological group was laid down by river systems during the mid-Cretaceous period, around 100 - 94 million years ago, and several types of pterosaur are known from these beds.

At the time, the rivers in this region were home to crocodiles, a variety of fish, including 25ft sawfish and massive coelacanths, and the semi-aquatic dinosaur Spinosaurus. Some of the pterosaurs from this region would have preyed upon the fish, amphibians and crustaceans present in the rivers. Others, such as Siroccopteryx which was a specialised glider, would have likely ventured out onto the Tethys Sea (an ancient sea which existed 250 - 50 million years ago) to capture fish and other prey swimming near the surface.