Genus
Valid Extinct

Dearc

Jagielska et al. 2022

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 ( ).

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
1
Group
Ptérosaures
Piscivore Volant Marine
Dearc
click to enlarge
Type material of Dearc (Scale bar 30 mm) A) a photograph of NMS G.2021.6.1, highlighted in white in the illustration; B) a photograph of NMS G.2021.6.2, highlighted in blue in the illustration; C) a photograph of NMS G.2021.6.3, highlighted in orange in the illustration; D) a photograph of NMS G.2021.6.4, highlighted in green in the illustration. © Jagielska et al. (2025) · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Pterosauria Order
›
Macronychoptera Unranked clade
›
Novialoidea Unranked clade
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Breviquartossa Unranked clade
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Rhamphorhynchidae Family
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Rhamphorhynchinae Subfamily
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Angustinaripterini Tribe
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Dearc Genus
Fossil sites 1 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
1
Geological formations
Lealt Shale
1
Temporal distribution
Bathonian (168.2–165.3 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Dearc sgiathanach 168 Ma
Images 3
Bibliography
Original description
N. Jagielska, M. O’Sullivan, and G. F. Funston, I. B. Butler, T. J. Challands, N. DL Clark, N. C. Fraser, A. Penny, D. A. Ross, M. Wilkinson, S. L. Brusatte. 2022. A skeleton from the Middle Jurassic of Scotland illuminates an earlier origin of large pterosaurs. Current Biology 32:1446-1453 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
N. Jagielska, M. O’Sullivan, and G. F. Funston, I. B. Butler, T. J. Challands, N. DL Clark, N. C. Fraser, A. Penny, D. A. Ross, M. Wilkinson, S. L. Brusatte. 2022. A skeleton from the Middle Jurassic of Scotland illuminates an earlier origin of large pterosaurs. Current Biology 32:1446-1453 DOI ↗