Pterodactyl: Pictures, Types, and Characteristics

Most people use the word pterodactyl to refer to two different genera of pterosaurs, Pterodactylus and Pteranodon. Here are pictures of these two famous flying reptiles.

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Pterodactylus Discovery

pterodactylus
SinoDino

The first specimen of Pterodactylus was discovered in 1784, decades before naturalists had any conception of evolution. 

The late Jurassic Pterodactylus was characterized by its relatively small size (a wingspan of about three feet and a weight of 10 to 20 pounds), long, narrow beak, and short tail. 

02
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Pterodactylus' Name

pterodactylus
Wikimedia Commons

The "type specimen" of Pterodactylus was identified and named by one of the first naturalists to recognize that animals could go extinct, the Frenchman Georges Cuvier. 

03
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Pterodactylus in Flight

pterodactylus
Nobu Tamura

Pterodactylus is often depicted as flying low over coastlines and plucking small fish out of the water, like a modern seagull.

04
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Pterodactylus - Not a Bird

pterodactylus
Alain Beneteau

Like other pterosaurs, Pterodactylus was only remotely related to the first prehistoric birds, which actually descended from small, terrestrial, feathered dinosaurs. 

05
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Pterodactylus and "Type Specimens"

pterodactylus
Wikimedia Commons

Because it was discovered so early in paleontological history, Pterodactylus suffered the fate of other before-their-time reptiles of the 19th century: any fossil that remotely resembled the "type specimen" was assigned to a separate Pterodactylus species. 

06
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Pteranodon's Unusual Skull

pteranodon
Wikimedia Commons

The prominent, foot-long crest of Pteranodon was actually part of its skull--and may have functioned as a combination rudder and mating display. 

07
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Pteranodon

pteranodon
Wikimedia Commons

Many people mistakenly assume that Pteranodon lived at the same time as Pterodactylus; in fact, this pterosaur didn't appear on the scene until tens of millions of years later, in the late Cretaceous period. 

08
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Pteranodon Gliding

pteranodon
Wikimedia Commons

Most researchers believe that Pteranodon was primarily a glider rather than a flyer, though it's not inconceivable that it actively flapped its wings every now and then. 

09
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Pteranodon May Have Mostly Walked

pteranodon
Heinrich Harder

It may be the case that Pteranodon took to the air only rarely, and instead spent most of its time stalking the ground on two legs, like the raptors and tyrannosaurs of its North American habitat.

10
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Pteranodon's Unusual Look

pteranodon
Matt Martyniuk

One of the oddest things about Pteranodon is how non-aerodynamic it looked; there's certainly no flying bird alive today that remotely resembles this Cretaceous pterosaur. 

11
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Pteranodon - The Cool Pterosaur

pteranodon
Wikimedia Commons

Even though they're both referred to as pterodactyls, Pteranodon is a far more popular choice than Pterodactylus for inclusion in movies and dinosaur TV documentaries!

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Strauss, Bob. "Pterodactyl: Pictures, Types, and Characteristics." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/pterodactyl-dinosaur-pictures-4123094. Strauss, Bob. (2020, August 27). Pterodactyl: Pictures, Types, and Characteristics. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/pterodactyl-dinosaur-pictures-4123094 Strauss, Bob. "Pterodactyl: Pictures, Types, and Characteristics." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/pterodactyl-dinosaur-pictures-4123094 (accessed March 28, 2024).