[1] Between 30 and 40 fossil specimens have been identified,[2] all collected from the Tiaojishan Formation, which dates to the middle Jurassic period, 160.89–160.25 Ma ago.

[6][7] Darwinopterus, like its closest relatives, is characterized by its unique combination of basal and derived pterosaurian features.

[7] Unlike other wukongopterids, the head crest found in males was supported by a thin bony extension of the skull, with a serrated top edge.

The egg was probably expelled from the body during decomposition, and its association with the Darwinopterus individual was used to support the hypothesis of sexual dimorphism.

He noted that the "Mrs T" specimen may simply have been a sub-adult which had not yet developed a crest (most animals are able to reproduce before they are fully grown).

[9] The specimen preserved along with an egg (nicknamed "Mrs T"), described by Lü and colleagues in 2011, offers insight into the reproductive strategies of Darwinopterus and pterosaurs in general.

The eggs of Darwinopterus would have weighed about 6 grams (0.21 oz) when they were laid, but due to moisture intake, they may have doubled in weight by the time of hatching.

David Unwin, a co-author of the paper, suggested that Darwinopterus probably laid many small eggs at a time and buried them, and that juveniles could fly upon hatching, requiring little to no parental care.

Originally, it was described as a raptorial hawking carnivore;[1] however, posterior analyses have found no speciations towards aerial predation.

In other words, rather than a gradual change from one body type to the other, various major aspects of pterodactyloid anatomy arose unsystematically, producing species with distinct combinations of both primitive and advanced features.