In Depth It was once thought that Herbstosaurus represented one of the first pterosaurs of the more advanced Pterodactyloidea, however it is now realised that it recovered from a Vaca Muerta Formation which dated as being from the Tithonian. Herbstosaurus has continued to cause some disagreement between palaeontologists as to its exact position within the … Read more
In Depth Lonchognathosaurus had jaws that were typical of the dsungaripterid pterosaurs in that they were pointed and lacked teeth towards the front of the snout. It’s thought that pterosaurs like Lonchognathosaurus used this design to dig out invertebrates so that they can be crushed with the stout teeth towards the rear of the mouth. … Read more
In Depth Noripterus appears to have been a scaled down version of the pterosaur Dsungaripterus complete with a more gracile build. However the discovery of a leg bone that was attributed to the new genus Phobetor in 1982 now casts doubts upon this. When studied again, along with further material attributed to Phobetor in 2009, … Read more
In Depth Possibly the main feature of interest to researchers of Germanodactylus is the head crest. Although quite unremarkable compared to some other pterosaurs like Nyctosaurus or Tupandactylus, it is a good example of the early forms that seem to be more common to the more advanced pterodactyloid pterosaurs. The crest itself is best known … Read more
In Depth Despite being known from only scant fossil material, Normannognathus seems to have been a dsungaripterid pterosaur, a group noted for specialising in shellfish. The teeth seem to have covered at least the entire front portion of the jaws with teeth being present in the tip, although it is unknown how far back they … Read more