Prehistoric Models: Pterosauria

Although Pterosaurs meaning “winged lizards” are the closely related contemporaries of dinosaurs, they are not actually classified as dinosaurs. They are commonly called “flying reptiles“. The earliest Pterosaurs appear in the fossil record in the fossil record during the late Triasic some 225 million years ago and are extinct by the late Cretaceous some 66 million years ago.

Some diagnostic features of pterosaurs are true powered flight with forelimbes modified into wings: membrane stretching from the tip of a greatly elongated finger. When they were not flying they were probably quadrupedal and all had hair-like (or proto-feathers) covering their bodies. To see my fossil Pterosaurs click here.

Kingdom: Animalia – Phylum: Chordata – Class: Reptilia – Order: Pterosauria

(Early Pterosaurs)

Late Triassic to Late Jurassic

Name: Rhamphorhynchus “beak snout”
Name pronounciation: Ram-foe-rink-us
Known Species: R. longicaudus (type), R. etchesi, R. muensteri
Named by: Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer -1846
CLassification: Family: Rhamphorhynchidae – Subfamily: Rhamphorhynchinae
Time: Jurassic (Oxfordian to Kimmeridgian)
Locality: Germany, Portugal, Tanzania
Size: 1.81 m wingspan, 1.26 m long including tail
Diet: Insectivore/Piscivore

Kingdom: Animalia – Phylum: Chordata – Class: Reptilia – Order: Pterosauria – Suborder: Pterodactyloidea

(Pterodactylomorpha)

Jurassic to Cretaceous

Name: Pterosaur “winged reptile” (No official bionomial species name)
Name pronounciation: Te-ran-o-sore
Known Species: (not given)
Named by: Paul Sereno
Classification: Suborder: Pterodactyloidea – Family: …
Time: Cretaceous (Albian)
Locality: Southern Sahara
Size: 3 m wingspan
Diet: Carnivore
 

Name: Tupuxuara “Familiar spirit”
Name pronounciation: Too-poo-hwar-ra
Known Species: T. longicristanus (type), T. leonradii, T. deliradamus
Named by: Kellner and Campos – 1998
Classification: Suborder: Pterodactyloidea – Family: Thalassodromidae
Time: Cretaceous (Albian)
Locality: Brazil – Santana Formation
Size: 5.5 m wingspan
Diet: Piscivore

Name: Ornithocheirus “Bird hand”
Name pronounciation: Or-nith-oh-kye-rus
Known Species: O. simus (type), O. mesembrinus
Named by: Harry Govier Seeley – 1869
Classification: Suborder: Pterodactyloidea – Family: Ornithocheiridae
Time: Cretaceous (Albian)
Locality: England – Cambridge Greensand, Brazil – Santana Formation
Size: 5 m wingspan
Diet: Piscivore
 

Name: Tapejara “Ancient Entity”
Name pronounciation: Top-ay-har-ah
Known Species: T. wellnhoferi (type)
Named by: Kellner – 1989
Classification: Suborder: Pterodactyloidea – Family: Tapejaridae
Time: Cretaceous (Albian)
Locality: Brazil – Santana Formation
Size: 3.5 m wingspan
Diet: Piscivore, possible Fugivore
 

Name: Pteranodon sternbergi or Geosternbergia
Name pronounciation: Teh-ran-oh-don
Known Species: P. stembergi
Named by: George F. Sternberg-1952
Classification: Suborder: Pterodactyloidea – Family: Pteranodontidae
Time: Cretaceous (Coniacian to Campanian)
Locality: United States – lower Niobrara Formation
Size: 3 to 6 meters
Diet: Piscivore

Name: Quetzalcoatlus “from Quetzalcoatl”
Name pronounciation: Kwet-zal-co-at-las
Known Species: Q. northropi (type)
Named by: Douglas A. Lawson -1975
Classification: Suborder: Pterodactyloidea – Family Azhdarchidae
Time: Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)
Locality: United States, Texas, Javelina Formation, Big Bend National Park
Size: Males: 11 m wingspan
Diet: Carnivore