Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Pteranodon sternbergi is the only known species of Pteranodon with an upright crest. The lower jaw of P. sternbergi was 1.25 meters (4.1 ft) long. [ 47 ] It was collected by George F. Sternberg in 1952 and described by John Christian Harksen in 1966, from the lower portion of the Niobrara Formation.
In 1966, American paleontologist John Christian Harksen assigned the specimens found as a new species of Pteranodon called P. sternbergi due to its distinct upright crest that set it apart from P. longiceps. Halsey W. Miller however, concluded a revision of the different species of Pteranodon in 1971, and created three different subgenera.
Pteranodontids had a distinctive, elongated crest jutting from the rear of the head (most famously seen in Pteranodon itself). The spectacularly-crested Nyctosaurus is sometimes included in this family, though usually placed in its own family, the Nyctosauridae (Nicholson & Lydekker, 1889).
Pteranodontia is an extinct group of ornithocheiroid pterodactyloid pterosaurs.It lived during the Late Cretaceous (Turonian to Maastrichtian stages) of North America, South America, Europe and Africa. [1]
Specimen YPM1177, the type specimen of Pteranodon, now interpreted as a female individual due to its short cranial crest. The naming of the different pterosaur species, as well as the genus Ornithocheirus in England resulted in further research in other places.
However, at least one pterosaur did have both the Pteranodon-like crest and teeth: Ludodactylus, whose name means "toy finger" for its resemblance to old, inaccurate children's toys. [211] Pterosaurs have sometimes been incorrectly identified as (the ancestors of) birds, though birds are theropod dinosaurs and not descendants of pterosaurs.
The crest was mainly formed by the premaxillae (the frontmost snout bones), frontal bones, parietal bones, and part of the supraoccipital bone. The premaxillae formed most of the crest, extending to its back, and contacted the frontoparietal part of the crest by a straight suture (a distinct feature of this species). The crest varied from 1 to ...
The holotype of Alamodactylus was originally referred to Pteranodontidae by Myers (2010) and tentatively identified as cf. Pteranodon.Myers (2010) noted that the humerus was superficially similar to that of Pteranodon while other similarities were noted with Nyctosaurus, but the holotype being crushed rendered comparison difficult.