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Wild West Discovery In 1870, a paleontologist named O.C. Marsh led an expedition into areas of the American West. The men told stories of traveling by covered wagon, drinking rainwater from their hats, and fending off rattlesnakes. Soldiers escorted them through territories of Sioux and other Native peoples. For a brief time, they were even escorted by the famous buffalo hunter William Cody, or "Buffalo Bill." Within Kansas, they made an exciting discovery: a single fossil from the wing of a giant pterosaur. They returned to the site in 1871 and uncovered more of the pterosaur. Marsh named it Pteranodon. He estimated the animal's wings were 20 feet (6 meters) across. This was the largest pterosaur known at that time—and the first to be found in the United States.
Pronunciation: ter-AN-o-don LON-ji-seps
Lived: around 85 million years ago
Fossil Found: in western Kansas
Wingspan: up to 20 feet (6 m)
Diet: fish
Cool Fact: In Greek, Pteranodon means "winged and toothless," while longiceps means "long headed."
Pterosaurs wings have a different structure from birds and bats. Their outer wings are supported by the bones of their:
thumb
fourth finger
wrist
Correct!
The bones of a pterosaur's fourth finger (its ring finger) were very long. Like a mast on a ship, these bones supported a thin flap of skin that was shaped like a sail.
The large beak of the giant Pteranodon had:
tiny, sharp teeth
large, dagger-like teeth
no teeth at all!
Correct!
It had no teeth! In fact, Pteranodon means "winged and toothless" in Greek. Scientists think Pteranodon dived and scooped up fish like a pelican.
As pterosaurs evolved, their crests disappeared.
Fiction
Over the millions of years that pterosaurs lived, their crests became more diverse. They came in many shapes like daggers, fans, and disks. And they could stick up, back, or forward.
Pteranodon had the largest wingspan of all the pterosaurs.
Fiction
Its 20-foot wingspan is around the size of a hang glider. For about 100 years, Pteranodon was the largest known pterosaur—until the discovery of Quetzalcoatlus in 1971.
Large pterosaurs like Pteranodon can fly long distances, probably in the same way that animals like albatrosses do today. They probably weren't active power fliers, but more like gliders and soarers.
Mark Norell, paleontologist