Pteranodon
Pteranodon longiceps
Pteranodon is one of the best-known pterosaurs and a recognisable example of flying reptiles from Cretaceous seas.
Image: Matt Martyniuk · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Pteranodon longiceps
- Period
- Late Cretaceous (Campanian)
- Lived
- 86–84 Ma (86 million years ago)
- Diet
- Piscivore
- Habitat
- Open sea, Airborne
- Length (estimate)
- 1.8 m
Description
Pteranodon was a toothless pterosaur with a long, backward-pointing skull crest and long, narrow wings. Its beak could catch fish, and fossils from marine deposits indicate a coastal and marine way of life. Crest shape varied with age and probably sex, but its function is not fully established. The animal landed on all four limbs and was not a dinosaur.
Habitat
Coastal seas and islands along the western inland sea.
Fossil sites
Niobrara Formation, Kansas
Niobrara Formation
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Sources: Pteranodon