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Prehistoric Life

How wide was Anhanguera santanae?

An adult Anhanguera santanae had a wingspan of about 4.6 m (15 ft).

What is measured: adult, wingspan

Anhanguera santanae (4.6 m) drawn to scale beside a doorway (2 m) and a 20-foot shipping container (6.06 m)
Drawn to scale, from left to right: Doorway (2 m), Anhanguera santanae (4.6 m) and Shipping container (20 ft) (6.06 m).

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How big is that, really?

  • About 76% of the length of a 20-foot shipping container
  • About 2.3× the height of a doorway
  • About 2 would fit end to end along a city bus
  • About 2.7× the height of an adult person
  • About 5 would fit end to end along a tennis court

Learn

Facts about Anhanguera santanae

Anhanguera was a toothy pterosaur whose long, pointed jaws probably helped it seize fish over Cretaceous seas.

Source: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Pterosaurs; The Pterosauria, Anhanguera

Prehistoric Life

NameSizeCompared with Anhanguera santanae
Dinornis robustus3.6 m (12 ft)0.78×
Palaeoloxodon antiquus4 m (13 ft)0.87×
Deinotherium giganteum4 m (13 ft)0.87×
Mammuthus columbi4 m (13 ft)0.87×
Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis4.5 m (15 ft)0.98×
Anhanguera santanae4.6 m (15 ft)this page
Iguanodon bernissartensis5 m (16 ft)1.1×
Kentrosaurus aethiopicus5 m (16 ft)1.1×
Paraceratherium transouralicum5.5 m (18 ft)1.2×
Ceratosaurus nasicornis6 m (20 ft)1.3×

Test your sense of scale

Which is bigger: Anhanguera santanae or Dinornis robustus?

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