In Depth Like many early discovered pterosaurs the taxonomic history of Cycnorhamphus is quite muddled. Initially assigned to Pterodactylus, the first pterosaur discovered that ended up being treated like a wastebasket for almost any discovered pterosaur remains, Harry Seeley redesignated the specimen Cycnorhamphus. However another palaeontologist, Felix Plieninger, cited mistakes in the description and in … Read more
In Depth Initially described as a species of Pterodactylus, Cimoliopterus was named as a distinct pterosaur genus in 2013. Little is known about Cimoliopterus due to the parcity of known fossils which are fragmentary at best. However, the fact that fossils of this pterosaur have been found in both England and the USA indicates that … Read more
In Depth It was once thought that Herbstosaurus represented one of the first pterosaurs of the more advanced Pterodactyloidea, however it is now realised that it recovered from a Vaca Muerta Formation which dated as being from the Tithonian. Herbstosaurus has continued to cause some disagreement between palaeontologists as to its exact position within the … Read more
In Depth Liaodactylus is a genus of pterosaur that lived in Asia during the late Jurassic. Liaodactylus is noted for having numerous small teeth in comb-like structures that meshed together when the jaws closed. This would have allowed Liaodactylus to feed by filtering out small invertebrates from water and soft sediment. Further Reading - Earliest … Read more
In Depth Nurhachius is perhaps most closely related to Istiodactylus even though the two are geographically separated by several thousand miles. However Nurhachius has a different skull which is lower with a slightly curved lower jaw. Nurhachius is named after the first khan of the Qing dynasty, who once ruled from the area where Nurhachius … Read more
In Depth Not many pterosaurs are known from Spain, but Prejanopterus is so far one of the better preserved specimens. The interesting thing about the Prejanopterus is that although the bottom jaw is straight, the upper jaw curves upwards and away from the bottom jaw. This is not considered a distortion of the jaw as … Read more
In Depth Ornithostoma was once considered to identical to Pteranodon, although modern thinking has it recognised as its own genus. Unfortunately Ornithostoma has suffered from the wastebasket effect with numerous poorly preserved remains being attributed to it. Although not much is known for certain, the toothless beak of Ornithostoma likely indicates a fish eating piscivorous … Read more
In Depth The type specimen of Huanhepterus was discovered when it was exposed after a quarry side was blasted by explosives. Unfortunately this blast also destroyed the right hand side of the specimen. Huanhepterus was placed within the Ctenochasmatoidea group of pterosaurs because of the large number of slender teeth, and for this reason Huanhepterus … Read more
In Depth Lonchognathosaurus had jaws that were typical of the dsungaripterid pterosaurs in that they were pointed and lacked teeth towards the front of the snout. It’s thought that pterosaurs like Lonchognathosaurus used this design to dig out invertebrates so that they can be crushed with the stout teeth towards the rear of the mouth. … Read more
In Depth Barbaridactylus is a genus of pterosaur that lived in North Africa during the late Cretaceous. Barbaridactylus has been identified as a nyctosauird pterosaur, a kind usually associated with coastal areas and hunting for fish. Further Reading - Late Maastrichtian pterosaurs from North Africa and mass extinction of Pterosauria at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. - … Read more