Anurognathus

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Scientific name	Anurognathus ammoni
Home era	Late Jurassic
Creature type	Pterosaur
Deaths caused	5
Appearances	Episode 1.5 Possibly Extinction Event Episode 5.5

Anurognathus is a small Pterosaur.

1 Facts
2 In Primeval
3 Trivia
4 Errors
5 Gallery
6 External Links

FactsEdit

Anurognathus is a genus of small pterosaur that lived approximately 155-140 million years ago during the late Jurassic Period. It had a short head with pin-like teeth for catching insects and although it traditionally is ascribed to the long tailed pterosaur group (Rhamphorhynchoidea), its tail was comparatively short, allowing it more maneuverability for hunting. The reduced tail of Anurognathus was similar to the pygostyle of modern birds. Its more typical rhamphorhynchoid characters include its elongated fifth toe and short neck. With a wingspan of 50 cm (20 inches) and a 9 cm long body (skull included), it probably weighed no more than a few grams. Only two skeletons have been found, in the Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria. Anurognathus was first named and described by L. Döderlein in 1923. The genus name Anurognathus is derived from the Greek αν/an- ("without"), оυρα/oura ("tail"), and γναθος/gnathos ("jaw") in reference to its unusually small tail relative to other rhamphorhynchoids pterosaurs. The species name A. ammoni honours the Bavarian geologist Ludwig von Ammon. Anurognathus was a member of the family or clade Anurognathidae.

It had a short head with pin like teeth for catching insects, and although it traditionally is ascribed to the long tailed pterosaur group, its tail was comparatively short, allowing it more maneuverability for hunting in woodland. This is advantage when hunting. With a wingspan of 50 cm 20 inches and a 9 cm long body skull included could not have weighed more than a few grams, nevertheless in Primeval it's a brutal predator.

In PrimevalEdit

Episode 1.5Edit

A flock came through an anomaly and kill a golfer off-screen. They are seen roosting in a tree by Connor and Abby before being lured away by the scent of blood from a hospital type blood drip. They then kill a doctor and surround the house where Nick Cutter was treating Claudia Brown for her concussion and attacked like locusts. The pair fled from room to room as the Anurognathus broke through the windows and skylights while Claudia barricads herself in a safe room when Cutter ran to the ambulance. Helen Cutter helps Claudia escape while she made a gas explosion with the ovens and microwave and kills the Anurognathus.

Episode 5.5Edit

A flock of Anurognathus come through an anomaly during the 2011 Convergence, above the facility housing Philip Burton's New Dawn machine. This time they seem to have a slightly different skin tone. They chase Matt Anderson and Emily Merchant, who shoot a few of them with their EMDs but are forced under a shutter door into the main building of the power station. After being jumped and caught by guards, April orders the guards to remove Matt and Emily from of the building. About to open the door, a guard is warned by Matt of the danger awaiting on the other side. Ignoring him the guard opens the door and with the pterosaurs distracting the guards Matt and Emily run leaving the guards to their doom. As Abby, Connor and Emily are working their way through the power station, they come across the bodies of the guards and Abby instantly recognizes the cause of their death from the condition of the bodies. As they carry on through the building the chirps of the Anurognathus can be heard echoing through the building.

As Abby pursues April Leonard threatening to shoot her, Anurognathus attack April. Abby grabs April and pulls her to the floor in an attempt to save her but April grabs the EMD that Abby dropped. As Abby lays on the floor with April Leonard, the rest of the swarm arrive chasing April until she falls to her death. It is unknown if it was the creatures or the fall that killed her; more likely to have been the fall as very few cuts are seen on her body.

Episode 5.6Edit

It is unknown what happened to the Anurognathus. They were presumably either killed when Philip destroyed the New Dawn Facility, or managed to escape the building in time, and are still at large.

TriviaEdit

These creatures are different from the creatures in the fossil record and live in a different era, presumably re-imagined by the producers to make them scarier. They most likely evolved from Anurognathus ammoni
Anurognathus is Greek for without tail jaw indicating they had jaws and a small tail
If the creature truly is an Anurognathus then it would mean that the Pteranodon came through an anomaly in the Jurassic (where the Anurognathus came from) or vice versa, where the swarm came through an anomaly in the Cretaceous (where the Pteranodon is from).
Anurognathus is the only pterosaur to cause deaths.
Anurognathus has the longest interval between appearances of any creature in Primeval.
Anurognathus appear in Episode 5 of the 1st and 5th series.
Along with the Future Predator and Coelurosauravus, this is one of the only creatures from Series 1 to appear in Series 5.
This is the second swarm of creatures in Series 5 (after the Future Beetles) and in Series 1 (after the Giant Arachnids).
This is the fifth creature to kill an antagonist.
This is the ninth creature to kill a woman.

ErrorsEdit

The Anurognathus in Primeval are apparently from the Cretaceous. (Episode 1.5) However, in real life, Anurognathus lived in the Jurassic.
- These creatures may not be Anurognathus at all, as they are only ever referred to as pterosaurs.
In real life, Anurognathus ate insects, but in Primeval, they are depicted as flesh-eating monsters.
- The creatures seen in Primeval could be an undiscovered subspecies of Anurognathus.