Pterodactyl vs. Pteranodon

Pterodactyl

Pterodactylus ( TERR-ə-DAK-til-əs, from the Greek: πτεροδάκτυλος, pterodaktulos, meaning “winged finger”) is an extinct flying reptile genus of pterosaurs, whose members are popularly known as pterodactyls ( ). It is currently thought to contain only a single species, Pterodactylus antiquus, the first pterosaur species to be named and identified as a flying reptile.

The fossil remains of this species have been found primarily in the Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria, Germany, dated to the late Jurassic Period (early Tithonian), about 150.8–148.5 million years ago, though more fragmentary remains have been tentatively identified from elsewhere in Europe and in Africa.

It was a carnivore and probably preyed upon fish and other small animals. Like all pterosaurs, Pterodactylus had wings formed by a skin and muscle membrane stretching from its elongated fourth finger to its hind limbs. It was supported internally by collagen fibres and externally by keratinous ridges.

Pteranodon

{{Automatic taxobox | taxon = Pteranodon

| fossil_range =Late Cretaceous, 86–84.5 Ma

| image =Pteranodon amnh martyniuk.jpg | image_width = | image_caption = Mounted replica of an adult male P. longiceps skeleton, AMNH | parent_authority = Marsh, 1876 | type_species = †Pteranodon longiceps | type_species_authority = Marsh, 1876 | subdivision_ranks = Other species | subdivision =

†[[Pteranodon sternbergi|P. sternbergi]a]? Harksen, 1966

| synonyms =

Occidentalia Miller, 1972

Geosternbergia? Miller, 1978

Longicepia Miller, 1978

Dawndraco? Kellner, 2010

}} Pteranodon (; from Greek πτερόν ( pteron, “wing”) and ἀνόδων (anodon, “toothless”) is a genus of pterosaurs which included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with wingspans over 6 metres (20 ft). They lived during the late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present-day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota. More fossil specimens of Pteranodon have been found than any other pterosaur, with about 1,200 specimens known to science, many of them well preserved with nearly complete skulls and articulated skeletons. It was an important part of the animal community in the Western Interior Seaway.

Pteranodon were pterosaurs, not dinosaurs. By definition, all dinosaurs belong to one of the two groups within Dinosauria, i.e. Saurischia or Ornithischia. As such, this excludes pterosaurs. Nonetheless, Pteranodon are frequently featured in dinosaur media and are strongly associated with dinosaurs by the general public. While not dinosaurs, they form a sister clade to dinosaurs within the clade Avemetatarsalia.