Pterosaurs and the evolution of powered flight

Explore the collection

• Pterosaurs and the conquest of the air

  How pterosaurs evolved powered flight, controlled membrane wings, launched from four limbs, diversified their diets and reached giant size.

• What was the largest flying dinosaur?

  The largest flying animals were pterosaurs, not dinosaurs. Compare Quetzalcoatlus, Hatzegopteryx and Arambourgiania, and see why the record remains uncertain.

• Aerotitan: a fragmentary giant pterosaur from Patagonia

  Aerotitan sudamericanus from Argentina: the changing interpretation of its toothless jaw, proposed azhdarchid affinity and uncertain size.

• Aetodactylus: a toothed pterosaur from Cretaceous Texas

  The Texas jaw of Aetodactylus halli preserves a distinctive row of tooth sockets, while its wingspan and feeding behaviour remain unknown.

• Alanqa: a toothless pterosaur from Morocco

  Alanqa saharica is known from three-dimensional jaw fossils. Explore its anatomy, debated classification, possible size and unknown diet.

• Albadraco: a large azhdarchid from Late Cretaceous Romania

  Jaw fragments and a neck vertebra define Albadraco tharmisensis from Maastrichtian Romania. Its maturity, size and distinction from Hatzegopteryx need careful treatment.

• Allkaruen: a Jurassic pterosaur from Patagonia

  CT scans of the Allkaruen braincase reveal a mosaic of early pterosaur features. Explore its fossils, changing age estimates and debated relationships.

• Aralazhdarcho: an azhdarchid from Late Cretaceous Kazakhstan

  Aralazhdarcho is founded on a neck vertebra from Kazakhstan. Review the holotype, less certain referred bones and the unresolved Samrukia connection.

• Aussiedraco: a toothed pterosaur from Cretaceous Australia

  Aussiedraco molnari is known from an 88 mm lower-jaw fragment in Queensland. Explore its distinctive anatomy and the limits of its classification and diet.

• Bakonydraco: a toothless pterosaur from Late Cretaceous Hungary

  Bakonydraco galaczi is based on a nearly complete toothless lower jaw from Hungary. Explore its anatomy, debated relationships and unknown diet.

• Barbaridactylus: a large nyctosaurid from Morocco

  What the Barbaridactylus partial skeleton and Moroccan phosphate fossils reveal about a large late Maastrichtian nyctosaurid.

• Caelestiventus: a pterosaur from the Triassic desert

  Meet Caelestiventus hanseni, the three-dimensionally preserved Triassic pterosaur from Utah's Nugget Sandstone, with a distinctive skull and uncertain diet.

• Changchengopterus: a small Jurassic pterosaur from China

  Changchengopterus pani is known from a juvenile skeleton without a skull and a separately referred larger specimen. Explore its debated relationships and growth evidence.

• Chaoyangopterus: a toothless pterosaur from Cretaceous China

  Chaoyangopterus zhangi is known from a substantial but incomplete skull and skeleton. Learn why it is an azhdarchoid, not a nyctosaurid.

• Cimoliopterus: a toothed pterosaur from Cretaceous England

  Cimoliopterus cuvieri is known from a fragment of the snout. Follow its changing names, diagnostic anatomy and limits on size and diet.

• Dearc: a large Jurassic pterosaur from the Isle of Skye

  Dearc sgiathanach preserves a rare Middle Jurassic skeleton from Scotland. See what the fossil shows about growth, anatomy and pterosaur size.

• Elanodactylus: a rare pterosaur from the Yixian Formation

  Elanodactylus prolatus is known from two incomplete skeletons without skulls. Examine its unusual wing proportions, neck vertebrae and uncertain classification.

• Feilongus: a long-skulled pterosaur from Early Cretaceous China

  Feilongus is known from long, crested skulls and limited associated bones. Learn what its teeth, overbite and separate fossil specimens can and cannot reveal.

• Guidraco: the crested pterosaur known from its skull

  Guidraco venator from Liaoning: what its 38-centimetre skull preserves, what the crest and teeth suggest, and why its wingspan is estimated.

• Iberodactylus: a crested pterosaur from Early Cretaceous Spain

  Iberodactylus andreui is known from a fragment of the upper jaw found in Teruel. See how its tooth sockets and crest base support a link with Hamipterus.

• Kryptodrakon: an early pterodactyloid from Jurassic China

  Kryptodrakon progenitor is known from one partial skeleton found in the Shishugou Formation. Its long wing metacarpal supports pterodactyloid placement, while its skull and diet are unknown.

• Lonchodraco: a deep-jawed pterosaur from Cretaceous England

  Lonchodraco giganteus is known from a diagnostic jaw complex and a few associated wing and shoulder bones. Explore its changing name, uncertain size and proposed tactile feeding.

• Mimodactylus: a young pterosaur from Cretaceous Lebanon

  Mimodactylus libanensis is represented by an almost complete juvenile skeleton from Lebanon. Explore its broad snout, long wings and competing interpretations of its diet.

• Mistralazhdarcho: a French azhdarchid between size classes

  Mistralazhdarcho maggii is known from a partial subadult skeleton from Campanian France. See what its jaw and limb bones show, and how the adult wingspan estimate was derived.

• Nesodactylus: an island pterosaur from Jurassic Cuba

  Nesodactylus hesperius is known from a partial skeleton collected in Cuba in 1918 and prepared decades later. Explore its long tail, preserved anatomy and uncertain relationships.

• Parapsicephalus: a three-dimensional skull from Jurassic England

  Parapsicephalus purdoni is known chiefly from a three-dimensional skull from the Toarcian Whitby Mudstone. Explore its endocast, taxonomic history and uncertain body size.

• Serradraco: a toothy pterosaur from Early Cretaceous England

  Serradraco sagittirostris is known chiefly from a partial lower jaw from southern England. See how its history, keel and tooth sockets inform a classification that remains uncertain.

• Targaryendraco: a toothed pterosaur from northern Germany

  Targaryendraco wiedenrothi is known from a partial jaw and wing bones from northern Germany. Learn why it left Ornithocheirus and what its fragmentary skeleton can establish.

• Wightia: a British tapejarid from the Early Cretaceous

  Wightia declivirostris is known from a partial toothless upper beak from the Isle of Wight. Learn why its anatomy supports a tapejarid identity and what the fragment cannot reveal.

• Afrotapejara: an African tapejarid from Morocco

  Afrotapejara zouhrii is known from a toothless skull fragment in Morocco. See what the fossil confirms about its crest, classification and diet.

• Alcione: an unusual small nyctosaurid from Morocco

  Alcione fossils reveal short robust wing bones and a toothless jaw, but do not resolve its debated diving hypothesis or diet.

• Apatorhamphus: a pterosaur known from its jaws

  What the Apatorhamphus jaw from Morocco can show about its anatomy and provisional classification, and why its wingspan and diet remain uncertain.

• Arambourgiania: a giant neck in the fossil record

  Arambourgiania is represented mainly by a partial cervical vertebra from Jordan. Its lost-and-found history and uncertain wingspan make the limits of reconstruction clear.

• Arcticodactylus: a juvenile pterosaur from Triassic Greenland

  Arcticodactylus cromptonellus is known from a tiny, immature skeleton in Greenland. Explore what its bones show and why its adult size is unknown.

• Ardeadactylus: an identity rebuilt after loss

  Ardeadactylus was separated from Pterodactylus after its original fossil was lost. A neotype and referred skeletons preserve a long neck and wings.

• Arthurdactylus: the long-winged Crato pterosaur

  Arthurdactylus conandoylei is known from a partial skeleton without a skull. See what its long wings show and why its family placement remains uncertain.

• Austriadactylus: a crested pterosaur from Triassic Austria

  Austriadactylus cristatus is known from a crushed Triassic skeleton with a bony crest. Explore its fossils, referred Italian specimen and unsettled relationships.

• Barbosania: a crestless pterosaur from Brazil’s Early Cretaceous

  Barbosania gracilirostris is known from a nearly complete but immature skeleton in Brazil. Explore its anatomy, age and debated relationships.

• Bennettazhia: an enigmatic pterosaur from Oregon

  Bennettazhia oregonensis is known from a humerus and fused vertebrae in Oregon. Learn what its sparse fossil record can and cannot show.

• Boreopterus: a toothed pterosaur from the Jehol Biota

  Boreopterus cuiae preserves a near-complete skeleton from China’s Yixian Formation. Explore its teeth, estimated size and changing classification.

• Brasileodactylus: a toothed pterosaur from the Araripe Basin

  Brasileodactylus araripensis is anchored by the front of a lower jaw from Brazil. Learn what this fragment reveals and why referrals remain difficult.

• Cacibupteryx: a Jurassic pterosaur from Cuba

  Cacibupteryx caribensis preserves a three-dimensional partial skull and pieces of one wing. Explore this rare Jurassic fossil and its limits.

• Camposipterus: fragmentary jaws from the Cambridge Greensand

  Camposipterus is known from isolated pieces of toothed pterosaur snouts. Learn how its name, age and uncertain species assignments are reconstructed.

• Campylognathoides: an Early Jurassic pterosaur with a robust skull

  Campylognathoides is known from several Early Jurassic fossils in Germany. Explore its changing names, unusual skull proportions and evidence for feeding.

• Caulkicephalus: a toothed pterosaur from the Isle of Wight

  Caulkicephalus trimicrodon is known from separated skull and wing fossils in southern England. See what the type preserves and why the specimens should not be merged casually.

• Cearadactylus: a pterosaur skull corrected by preparation

  Cearadactylus atrox from Brazil: what its nearly complete skull preserves, how preparation changed the reconstruction and what remains uncertain.

• Coloborhynchus: the pterosaur known from a snout tip

  Coloborhynchus clavirostris from southern England: the diagnostic snout fragment, shifting species assignments and limits on size and life appearance.

• Ctenochasma: the pterosaur with a changing tooth count

  Ctenochasma is known from Jurassic skulls at different growth stages. See how its fine tooth comb changed during growth and what feeding claims the fossils support.

• Cycnorhamphus: a Jurassic pterosaur with unusual jaws

  Cycnorhamphus is known from rare Jurassic fossils in Germany and France. Explore its distinctive jaw shape, changing taxonomy and uncertain feeding function.

• Dendrorhynchoides: a pterosaur and a false tail

  Dendrorhynchoides is known from a genuine Jurassic pterosaur skeleton altered with a false tail, later clarified by a second specimen.

• Dorygnathus: an Early Jurassic Pterosaur with Large Front Teeth

  Dorygnathus is known from dozens of Early Jurassic skeletons. Its enlarged front teeth and revised palate anatomy are well preserved, while its exact prey and hunting method remain uncertain.

• Eopteranodon: an early pterosaur from northeastern China

  Eopteranodon lii is a small Early Cretaceous pterosaur once compared with Pteranodon. Later work placed it among tapejarids and added a second named species.

• Germanodactylus: a crest that appeared with growth

  Germanodactylus fossils reveal an adult bony crest and tooth pattern, while growth and shifting species assignments complicate its classification.

• Gnathosaurus: a Pterosaur with a Spoon-Shaped Jaw

  Gnathosaurus is known chiefly from a distinctive expanded skull. Its fine teeth support feeding on small aquatic prey, while body proportions and feeding motion remain uncertain.

• Haenamichnus: giant pterosaur tracks from South Korea

  Haenamichnus uhangriensis is an ichnospecies named from large Late Cretaceous tracks in South Korea. See what the footprints show and what they cannot tell us about the animal.

• Hamipterus: pterosaur eggs and a nesting ground

  Hamipterus fossils include adults, hundreds of soft-shelled eggs and embryos, revealing a nesting site while leaving parental care unresolved.

• Huaxiapterus: a pterosaur name changed by revision

  Huaxiapterus jii and the Jiufotang pterosaurs: why the type is treated as Sinopterus dongi and how former species were reassigned.

• Ikrandraco: the pterosaur with a blade-like lower-jaw crest

  Ikrandraco avatar is known from two skulls from the Jiufotang Formation. See what its unusual jaw crest shows, and why skimming and throat-pouch ideas remain unproven.

• Istiodactylus: a broad snout and a cutting tooth row

  A revised Istiodactylus skull reconstruction reveals a rounded snout, compact cutting teeth and a bony lower-jaw process; scavenging remains unproven.

• Jianchangnathus: a strong-jawed pterosaur from Jurassic China

  Jianchangnathus robustus is known from a partial skeleton with a complete skull and lower jaw. Explore its tooth arrangement, scaphognathid placement and uncertain age of the fossil beds.

• Kunpengopterus: a long-tailed pterosaur with an unusual thumb

  Kunpengopterus includes a species with a true opposed thumb and another without that documented feature. Learn what the fossils show about grasping and the proposed tree-climbing lifestyle.

• Lonchodectes: a disputed pterosaur from Cretaceous England

  Lonchodectes compressirostris is based on two fragments of an English pterosaur snout. Follow the changing interpretations of its type fossil and the unresolved comparison with Ikrandraco.

• Maaradactylus: a long-crested pterosaur from Brazil

  Maaradactylus kellneri is known from a large skull and two neck vertebrae in Brazil’s Romualdo Formation. See what its crest and tooth sockets reveal, and why its wingspan is only estimated.

• Muzquizopteryx: a small nyctosaurid from Mexico

  Muzquizopteryx coahuilensis is known from an articulated skeleton with preserved soft tissues. Explore its two-metre wingspan, wing anatomy and a separate specimen only tentatively referred to the genus.

• Nicorhynchus: a disputed name for toothed pterosaurs

  Nicorhynchus was proposed for fragmentary toothed pterosaur jaws from England and Morocco. Learn why its distinctive snout is clearer than its family placement or current genus status.

• Noripterus: a pterosaur with a toothless jaw tip

  Noripterus complicidens from Xinjiang: the type jaws, scattered skeleton material, uncertain age and limits of the hard-prey hypothesis.

• Nurhachius: an istiodactylid pterosaur from Liaoning

  Nurhachius is an Early Cretaceous pterosaur from China known by two named species. Compare its skulls, the Jiufotang Formation record and the evidence behind its classification.

• Peteinosaurus: a small pterosaur from Triassic Italy

  Peteinosaurus zambellii is known from fragmentary fossils found near Cene, Italy. Explore the type jaw and leg, disputed referred skeletons, and why the familiar wingspan is uncertain.

• Phosphatodraco: five vertebrae from the end of the Cretaceous

  Five connected cervical vertebrae identify Phosphatodraco in Morocco's Late Cretaceous phosphates. Its wingspan and feeding ecology remain comparative estimates.

• Pteraichnus: the fossil trackways of walking pterosaurs

  Pteraichnus is an ichnogenus of fossil tracks widely attributed to pterosaurs. Explore its discovery, hand and foot impressions, debated trackmakers and what trackways reveal about walking.

• Rhamphocephalus: a doubtful name from Jurassic England

  Rhamphocephalus was historically treated as a pterosaur, but its type is an undiagnostic skull fragment of a thalattosuchian crocodylomorph. Learn why the name is a nomen dubium.

• Sinopterus: a crested pterosaur from China

  Explore Sinopterus through its growth series, crests, species revisions, wings and unresolved diet in the Early Cretaceous of China.

• Tacuadactylus: a Jurassic pterosaur from Uruguay

  Tacuadactylus luciae is a gnathosaurine pterosaur known from a spoon-tipped snout and jaw fragments. Explore its CT-studied teeth, sensitive-looking rostrum and limits of reconstruction.

• Tethydraco: a debated pterosaur from Late Cretaceous Morocco

  Tethydraco regalis is based on a humerus from the Maastrichtian phosphates of Morocco. Explore its proposed pteranodontian identity, later azhdarchid interpretation and the disputed referred wing.

• Thapunngaka: a large pterosaur known from its jaw

  Thapunngaka shawi from Queensland: the preserved lower jaw, its crest, a comparative wingspan estimate and the limits of what one fossil can show.

• Wenupteryx: a small Jurassic pterosaur from Patagonia

  Wenupteryx uzi is a small pterodactyloid from Argentina's Vaca Muerta Formation. Explore its partial skeleton, short-tailed classification and the missing skull that limits reconstruction.

• Anhanguera: a crested pterosaur from Brazil

  Explore Anhanguera through its three-dimensional Romualdo skulls, tooth rows, crest growth, disputed species and estimated wingspan.

• Azhdarcho: a long-necked pterosaur from Uzbekistan

  Learn what the fragmentary Azhdarcho fossils reveal about its long neck, toothless jaws and uncertain size, locomotion and diet.

• Darwinopterus: a Jurassic Pterosaur with a Mosaic Skeleton

  Darwinopterus combined a long tail and early pterosaur proportions with a more derived skull and neck. Its fossils illuminate mosaic evolution without proving direct ancestry.

• Cryodrakon: the northern azhdarchid

  Cryodrakon is known from an immature partial skeleton and a much larger isolated neck vertebra. See what the fossils establish and what remains uncertain.

• Nyctosaurus: the branching crest and the missing fingers

  Nyctosaurus had long wings, no first three fingers and a branching crest in some specimens. The fossils leave its crest membrane, diet and flight style unresolved.

• Pterodaustro: a Filter-Feeding Pterosaur

  Pterodaustro's dense lower tooth comb, growth series, eggs and embryos illuminate its life, while the exact feeding motion and colour remain uncertain.

• Tapejara

  Tapejara explained from Crato fossils: discovery, toothless beak, real crest size, uncertain diet, flight, walking and difference from Tupandactylus.

• Tupandactylus: more than a spectacular crest

  Tupandactylus combined a bony crest frame with a large soft-tissue sheet. Its fossils also preserve body proportions and debated filament coverings.

• Tupuxuara: a large crested pterosaur from Brazil

  Tupuxuara fossils reveal a large toothless pterosaur and a crest that changed with age, while species limits and diet remain debated.

• Pterosaur catalogue A to Z

  Browse an illustrated pterosaur catalogue with complete profiles, scientific names, periods, diets, groups and size filters.

• Volgadraco: a pterosaur from the Volga region

  What the Volgadraco jaw, referred bones and shifting classification reveal about this early Campanian Russian pterosaur.

• Hatzegopteryx: a giant pterosaur with a powerful neck

  Discover Hatzegopteryx, the giant Transylvanian azhdarchid known from a broad skull, humerus and massive neck vertebra, with a wingspan near 10–11 m.

• Pteranodon vs. Pterodactylus: what is the difference?

  Compare Pteranodon and Pterodactylus by age, size, teeth, crests, wings and classification. Learn why neither animal was a dinosaur.

• Why Pterosaurs Were Not Dinosaurs

  Pterosaurs were close archosaur relatives of dinosaurs, but their wing anatomy and evolutionary lineage were distinct. Learn what fossils show about their identity and body covering.

• Why did pterosaurs go extinct?

  Pterosaurs disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous. Learn what the fossil record shows about the extinction event, birds and the limits of popular explanations.

• What are flying dinosaurs called?

  Learn why Pteranodon and Quetzalcoatlus were pterosaurs rather than dinosaurs, what pterodactyl means and why birds are true flying dinosaurs.

• Feathered dinosaurs: what the fossils show

  How fossils from Sinosauropteryx to Yutyrannus changed ideas about feathered dinosaurs, what different plumage records show, and why feathers do not prove flight.

• What Did Pterosaurs Eat?

  Pterosaur diets varied by genus. Fossilised meals, tooth wear and anatomy show what the evidence supports and where feeding behaviour remains uncertain.

• Tropeognathus: a large pterosaur from Brazil’s Romualdo Formation

  Tropeognathus mesembrinus had long jaws, prominent crests and widely splayed front teeth. Compare its skull and referred skeletons, and learn what the famous wingspan estimates actually represent.

• Quetzalcoatlus

  Quetzalcoatlus explained from its Texas fossils: two species, reliable wingspan, long neck, ground feeding, flight and limits of reconstruction.

• Pteranodon

  Pteranodon explained from its Late Cretaceous fossils: species, crest, wingspan, toothless beak, marine flight, diet and evidence limits.

• Ornithodesmus: the dinosaur once mistaken for a pterosaur

  Ornithodesmus cluniculus is known from a fused sacrum on the Isle of Wight. Follow its changing classification, likely dromaeosaurid affinities and limits.

• Dsungaripterus: the pterosaur with crushing teeth

  Dsungaripterus weii had a toothless upturned beak tip and robust rear teeth. Explore its fossils, palate anatomy and the evidence behind a hard-prey diet.

• Ornithocheirus: a famous name built on jaw fragments

  Explore Ornithocheirus through its fragmentary Cambridge Greensand jaws, changing classification, uncertain crest, unknown wingspan and probable diet.

• Pterodactylus

  Pterodactylus antiquus explained from Solnhofen fossils: discovery, teeth, wings, adult size, growth, lagoon habitat and taxonomic history.

• Sordes: membranes and fibres in the Jurassic stone

  Sordes from Jurassic Kazakhstan preserves wing membranes and body fibres, but its exact wingspan, covering and diet remain uncertain.

• Batrachognathus: the broad-headed Jurassic pterosaur

  Batrachognathus volans from Kazakhstan: skull fossils, Late Jurassic age, reconstructed wingspan and evidence behind its proposed insect-feeding ecology.

• Eudimorphodon: an early pterosaur with direct evidence of fish feeding

  Eudimorphodon ranzii from Late Triassic Italy: its articulated skeleton, multi-cusped teeth, fish remains, flight anatomy and limits of reconstruction.

• Preondactylus: an early pterosaur from the Norian

  A specimen-led account of Preondactylus, the Norian pterosaur known from one natural impression and a disputed second fossil.

• Rhamphorhynchus

  Rhamphorhynchus explained from Solnhofen fossils: wing membranes, tail vane, teeth, direct fish remains, growth and flight evidence.

• Anurognathus: a tiny broad-headed pterosaur

  Meet Anurognathus, a tiny Late Jurassic pterosaur with a short tail, broad mouth, huge eyes and wings suited to manoeuvring after small prey.

• Scaphognathus: the short-headed long-tailed pterosaur

  Study Scaphognathus crassirostris through its Solnhofen skeletons, long tail, broad-spaced teeth, wing membrane and hair-like pycnofibres.

• Dimorphodon

  Dimorphodon explained from Lyme Regis fossils: Mary Anning's discovery, large skull, two tooth forms, long tail, flight, walking and uncertain diet.

No pages match that search. Try another title or term.