Pteranodon | Facts & Information
# Pteranodon | Facts & Information
Pteranodon | Discover Fascinating Facts and Information About Pteranodon
According to paleontologists it had a wingspan of 7-8 m and weight of 15 kg. His body weight was greatly reduced by his bare bones. This prehistoric creature lived in the Mesozoic era, in the Upper Cretaceous, about 70 million years ago.
Pteranodon
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Facts
During the Cretaceous Period lived the largest flying reptiles-pterosaurians. This category included the large flying dinosaur Pteranodon, which had never been touched by a flying animal before.
Fossil remains of this species have been found in Oregon, Kansas, South Dakota, Wyoming, Japan and England. Based on them, several species of this genus were classified, namely: Pteranodon longiceps, Pteranodon ingens, Pteranodon marshi, Pteranodon sternbergi.
Head
The most interesting part of this flying reptile was the very large head that had a bone crest of about 1.2 m, which had an important role as a helm, in stabilizing the position during the flight, in changing the direction quickly, when desired.
This ridge was always larger in males than in females, and in young specimens it was very little developed. In females the crest had a thinner and more rounded edge.
Most of the times the length of the beak only slightly exceeded that of the capillary adornment. The crest on the head also served as a counterweight given the very long, sharp and heavy snout of this species.
Body
The neck was long, flexible, made up of several joints and a series of vertebrae that formed with the axis of the skull an angle that forced the Pteranodon to keep its snout slightly bent down.
The tail of an adult specimen was very short, and The Shape of the wings somewhat suggests that the flight resembled that of a present-day albatross.
Like this one, the Pteranodon spent a lot of time flying and fishing at sea, covered impressive distances using the upward currents of the wind to gain ascending force over long periods of time, without putting too much effort and getting tired very quickly.
The fossils of this remarkable flyer show that he could travel very long distances, sometimes 160 kilometers, and the flight speed was about one wing beat per second, respectively a lift followed by a lowering of the wings.
When he raised his wings he had the habit of keeping them folded to lessen the air resistance, and when he lowered them, he spread his legs and wings to achieve a large area and glide slightly. Compared to other flying dinosaurs, he had the ability to take off from the ground, and when he wanted to have more energy for the beating of the wings he climbed the steep rocks like a real climber and with the help of his hind limbs he gained momentum and started the plane flight much easier.
Pteranodon Reproduction
During the mating season, the colored crest on the head had the role of attracting females. They lived in colonies, laying their eggs in nests built near the shores, quite close to each other.
According to the researchers the number of eggs was very small, and during the hatching the females were fed by the males, who brought them fish in their beak. After hatching the eggs the chicks were fed and protected by both parents, they took regurgitated food directly from the adults ' goiter.
The forelimbs of an adult Pteranodon had three fingers each provided with sharp claws, and the hind limbs had four fingers each, also endowed with hard and sharp claws, used both for climbing rocks and for supporting the weight of the body.
The Pteranodon dinosaur spent more time in flight, having a very good visual acuity immediately noticed the desired prey (fish or certain marine reptiles) that swam closer to the surface of the water and by a sudden descent on it caught it with its large and strong beak and stored it in the goiter-a leather bag under the lower jaw – just as Pelicans do today, to eat it later.
Pteranodon Food
It populated the shores of sea waters and beaches, and its food consisted of fish – the main food source for flying reptiles and marine reptiles of that time.
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