Guidraco venator is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of China. The name Guidraco means “dragon fly catcher” and refers to the unique tooth arrangement in this animal’s mouth which is thought to have been adapted for catching dragonflies. This genus contains a single known species, G. venator, which was first described in 2001 by Chinese paleontologists Lü Junchang and Xu Xing.
Guidraco venator is known from a single well-preserved specimen discovered in Inner Mongolia, China. This individual, an adult male, had a wingspan of approximately 4 meters (13 feet). It would have weighed around 50 kg (110 lbs). The fossil remains of Guidraco venator include a nearly complete skeleton with some soft tissue preservation. From these remains, we can see that this animal had long legs and arms, wing membranes stretched between its incredibly long fourth fingers, and a relatively short tail. Its head was small and delicate with large eyes set far apart on either side of the skull. Its jaws were lined with hundreds of sharp teeth which were arranged in rows that angled inward towards the back of the throat – likely adapted for snatching up prey items like insects or small mammals.
This creature lived during the Early Cretaceous period, around 120 million years ago. At this time, the area now known as China was part of a large continent called Asia which also included present-day India and Pakistan. This region was lush with vegetation thanks to monsoonal rains and teemed with all sorts of animals including feathered dinosaurs, early mammals, lizards, turtles, crocodiles, and birds. Guidraco venator would have vied for food against other predators such as Sinornithosaurus (a venomous dromaeosaur), Hesperornis (a toothed bird), Ichthyostega (an amphibian), and Meganeuropsis permiana (the largest insect that ever lived).