Rhamphorhynchus

Rhamphorhynchus muensteri · Rhamphorhynchus was a long-tailed, fish-eating pterosaur of the Jurassic period, whose best-preserved fossils come from the Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria, Germany.

It lived about 150.8 to 148.5 million years ago.

Rhamphorhynchus
Photo: D2Hills, CC BY-SA 4.0
Rhamphorhynchus
Photo: Oleg Kuznetsov - 3depix - http://3depix.com/ 3D Epix Inc., CC BY-SA 4.0
Rhamphorhynchus
Photo: ДиБгд at Russian Wikipedia, Public domain

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderPterosauria
FamilyRhamphorhynchidae
GenusRhamphorhynchus
SpeciesRhamphorhynchus muensteri

Where its fossils were found

Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria, Germany; possible scraps from England, Spain, Portugal and Tanzania.

Fun facts

  • Its long tail was stiffened with ligaments and ended in a soft-tissue tail vane.
  • Its tail vane changed shape as it grew, from oval in youngsters to diamond-shaped and finally triangular in the largest individuals.
  • Rhamphorhynchus had 20 needle-like teeth in its upper jaws and 14 in its lower jaws.
  • Even the smallest known Rhamphorhynchus, with a wingspan of only 290 millimeters, was probably able to fly.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).