Not a dinosaur — pterosaur

"Toothless wing"

Pteranodon

Late Cretaceous · 86–84 MyaPiscivoreNorth America

Not a dinosaur — a pterosaur, a separate group of flying reptiles. Pteranodon patrolled the shores of the shallow sea that once split North America in two, snatching fish from the surface. Hollow, air-filled bones kept a six-meter wingspan light enough to fly, at the cost of almost never fossilizing intact.

Length
2.5 m
Wingspan
6.4 m
Height
0.8 m
Weight
20 kg
Top speed
50 km/h

Field notes

  • Named in 1876 by O. C. Marsh during the fiercely competitive "Bone Wars" of American paleontology.
  • Unlike earlier pterosaurs, it had no teeth at all — just a sharp beak.
  • Its backward-pointing crest may have acted as a rudder or a counterweight for its long beak.
Meet the rest of the Pteranodontidae family →