While pterosaurs are not dinosaurs, they did live alongside dinosaurs during the Mesozoic Era—and flourished for more than 150 million years before becoming extinct. See Tupuxuara leonardii up close in the Museum’s Hall of Vertebrate Origins!
Happy Fossil Friday! Let’s fly back in time to the Cretaceous some 110 million years ago to meet Tupuxuara leonardii. This flying reptile had a wingspan of about 15 ft (4.5 m) and a huge fan-shaped crest. But why the elaborate headgear? Scientists think that pterosaurs could have used their distinctive crests to steer during flight, to recognize members of the same species, or to attract mates. Like the crests of some modern birds, they may have also been brightly colored.
Photo: © AMNH
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… a dinosaur? Nope to all of the above. This Fossil Friday, let’s talk about pterosaurs—the first animals with bones to evolve powered flight. Though they were related to dinosaurs, pterosaurs evolved on a separate branch of the reptile family tree. They ruled the skies for more than 150 million years, evolving into dozens of different species. Some were as small as a paper airplane while others, like Pteranodon pictured here in the Museum's Hall of Late Dinosaurs circa 1940-1960, had a wingspan of more than 20 ft (6 m).
Along with other large pterosaurs, Pteranodon longiceps was first discovered in western Kansas, near a chalk formation called Monument Rocks. Today the region is dry, but at the time this species lived, about 85 million years ago, central North America was covered by a seaway. This large pterosaur likely spent its days flying over the sea. Unlike early species of pterosaurs, Pteranodon and many other Cretaceous-era species didn’t have any teeth. In fact, its genus name means “winged and toothless,” while the second name, longiceps, means “long-headed.”
Today, you can find Pteranodon in the Hall of Vertebrate Origins. We're open daily from 10 am-5:30 pm! Plan your visit.
Photo: Image no. ptc-217 © AMNH Library
It’s time for #FossilFriday! Meet Tupuxuara leonardii, or the “familiar spirit.” It lived during the Middle Cretaceous around 110 million years ago. Among the vertebrates, pterosaurs were the first to evolve true powered flight.✈️ This pterosaur was an advanced member of the group known as pterodactyloids, which were characterized by loss of the tail. Tupuxuara had a crest on the back of its skull that may have helped guide it during flight. Spot this pterosaur in the Museum’s Hall Vertebrate Origins. Photo: E. Louis/© AMNH #NaturalHistory #paleontology #pterosaur #NYC #museums (at American Museum of Natural History) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca9v1fqrfNC/?utm_medium=tumblr
What is a pterosaur? Neither birds nor bats, pterosaurs were reptiles, close cousins of dinosaurs who evolved on a separate branch of the reptile family tree. They were also the first animals after insects to evolve powered flight—not just leaping or gliding, but flapping their wings to generate lift and travel through the air. They evolved into dozens of species. Some were as large as an F-16 fighter jet, and others as small as a paper airplane.
Hey everybody! The exhibition Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs closes in one month. Get as much prehistoric, winged-vertebrate goodness as you can before it's gone. Check out these pterrific links:
What is a pterosaur? It sounds like such a simple question. But the answer, as you learn in the new exhibition Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs, was by no means obvious when the first pterosaur skeleton was discovered in the mid-1700s, in the Solnhofen limestone quarry in Germany.
Perhaps, early observers theorized, that specimen’s long skinny arm-and-finger bones were for swimming? Or was it some kind of toothed, clawed, winged bird? Or even a mammal? Debates raged, even after 1801, when the great French anatomist Georges Cuvier analyzed drawings of the skeleton and determined the animal to be something new to science: a flying reptile that Cuvier later named ptero-dactyle (wing finger in Greek).
In 2008, researchers discovered one of the smallest pterosaurs known so far—with a wingspan of only 10 inches or so. Found in China and called Nemicolopterus crypticus, this tiny pterosaur lived about 120 million years ago. You can see a model of its skeleton in the current exhibition Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs.
What are these wacky looking creatures? They're pterosaurs and we made them using Color A Pterosaur!
Now we want to see what you can come up with. Choose from three pterosaurs and many backgrounds. Paint your pterosaur neon, rainbow, or even your home team colors—draw inspiration from our new exhibition Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs. Add your own caption and then send them to your friends or share them online.
In this video, meet the paleontologists who are finding pterosaur bones all around the globe. Hear what they love about their jobs, and which pterosaur species are their favorites!
Learn all about these amazing flying reptiles in the new exhibition Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs.