Pteranodon: Cretaceous Pterosaur

Pteranodon is one of the most popular pterosaurs (flying reptile) that lived during the late Cretaceous Period in north America. Fossils of this large flying creature have been found all across America, including sites in Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

Despite popular belief, pteranodon and all other pterosaurs were not dinosaurs, although they were descended from common ancestors. Pterosaurs evolved from terrestrial reptiles, with elongated forelimbs forming the frame for wings. Unlike flying mammals like bats, pterosaurs did not have wings constructed on all of the elongated fingers. Pteranodon only had an elongated fourth finger that formed the frame of its membranous wings, with the other three fingers free at the top. The wings themselves evolved from leathery folds of skin and stretched from the end of the fourth finger to the top of the animal's hind legs. Pteranodon was a large pterosaur, reaching a wingspan of nearly twenty-five feet long.

The long, beaklike jaws of pteranodon did not contain any teeth, though they undoubtedly fed on meat. It is likely that they hunted in a way common to modern-day pelicans in which the animal would swoop down to the surface of water with an open mouth and gulp up fish or other small marine animals. Since it had no teeth, pteranodon would need to swallow this prey whole. Fish bones have been discovered in the stomach of fossilized remains of pteranodon, giving further evidence that they had carved out this particular niche for themselves. The large, spiny projection on the back of the head was probably used to help balance the jaws and also for sexual display. Males with larger and longer crests would have a definite advantage during mating season. There is some evidence to suggest that pteranodon used the crest as a kind of rudder for changing direction in flight, when it would need to hold its wings straight across in order to stay aloft on thermals.

Because of its size, pteranodon probably depended on air thermals and rising currents of warm air in order to stay aloft. While most modern birds and bats use flapping flight in order to stay in the air, they have comparatively smaller and lighter bodies than many pterosaurs did. Modern birds that are large in size like vultures and albatrosses use a similar thermal-riding technique to soar instead of flap through the air.

Pteranodon like all other pterosaurs did not survive the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction. It would be a new group of hardy descendants of dinosaurs, the birds, that would take over dominance of the skies from that point forward.