Dearc

Dearc
Temporal range: Middle Jurassic, Bathonian
Life restoration
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Family: Rhamphorhynchidae
Subfamily: Rhamphorhynchinae
Tribe: Angustinaripterini
Genus: Dearc
Jagielska et al., 2022
Species:
D. sgiathanach
Binomial name
Dearc sgiathanach
Jagielska et al., 2022

Dearc (Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [tʲɛrxk] dearc) is a genus of large-bodied rhamphorhynchine pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic Lealt Shale Formation of Scotland. The holotype, a juvenile or subadult that was still actively growing, has an estimated wingspan of 2.5 to 3 meters, making it the largest flying animal of its time. This pushes the origin of large pterosaurs back significantly, as it was previously assumed that pterosaurs did not reach greater body sizes until the short-tailed pterodactyloid lineages of the Cretaceous. The genus contains a single species, Dearc sgiathanach ([ˈtʲɛɾxk ˈs̪kʲiəhanəx] dearc sgiathanach).