Karabastau Svita
Geological Age
Late Jurassic - Middle Jurassic
The Kazakh forests were home to some of the best-known pterosaur fossils, the kind of revolutionary fossils that changed our opinion about them forever.
Description
A rather poorly-known rock formation from Kazakhstan, the best fossil from this area is that of Sordes pilosus.
Pterosaurs
Sordes is a rhamphorhynchid pterosaur from the Oxfordian to the Kimmeridgian Stages of the Late Jurassic about 155 million years ago. This genus is the first known for having properly preserved outlines of wing membranes and furry pycnofibers. Another pterosaur from the formation is the anurognathid Batracognathus.
Neither of these genera was very big, around 60 to 75 centimeters across in terms of wingspan.
They both probably ate insects, of which there are plenty in the Karabastau.
Amphibians
Another animal from the area is Karaurus, a salamander.
Crocodylomorphs
The other vertebrate from this formation is Karatausuchus, an atoposaur. Atoposaurs are a family of small, terrestrial crocodylomorphs that existed throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods.
The genus is probably known for soft tissue remains and a few juvenile specimens.
Setting
Geological Age
Late Jurassic - Middle Jurassic
Environment
Karabastau Svita
Location
Kazakhstan
Credits
AuthorVasi Devi
Exhibit DesignerNick Garland