Pterodactylus in a sentence

He also named two additional species, based on size differences: Pterodactylus ingens (the largest specimen so far), and Pterodactylus velox (the smallest).

Additionally, a number of species assigned to Pterodactylus are based on poor remains that have proven difficult to assign to one species or another, and are therefore considered nomina dubia ("doubtful names").

Fully mature Pterodactylus specimens remain unknown, or may have been mistakenly classified as a different genus.

Hermann's original life restoration, the first of any pterosaur, 1800 It was the German/French scientist Johann Hermann who first stated that Pterodactylus used its long fourth finger to support a wing membrane.

Historically, this has led to various growth stages (including growth stages of related pterosaurs) being mistaken for new species of Pterodactylus.

However, it was shown by Bennett that the type specimen later designated for Diopecephalus was a fossil belonging to P. kochi, and no longer thought to be separate from Pterodactylus.

In 1829 William Buckland described it as Pterodactylus macronyx (later renamed Dimorphodon macronyx by Richard Owen), and unlike many other such occasions, Buckland credited Anning with the discovery in his paper.

In the first half of the nineteenth century any new pterosaur species would be named Pterodactylus, which thus became a typical " waste-basket taxon ".

Like all pterosaurs, Pterodactylus had wings formed by a skin and muscle membrane stretching from its elongated fourth finger to its hind limbs.

Many species assigned to Pterodactylus had been based on juvenile specimens, and subsequently been recognized as immature individuals of other species or genera.

Paleobiology Year classes Juvenile specimen of P. antiquus Like other pterosaurs (notably Rhamphorhynchus ), Pterodactylus specimens can vary considerably based on age or level of maturity.

Pterodactylus specimens can be divided into two distinct year classes.

Reconstructed life appearance Pterodactylus, like related pterosaurs, had a crest on its skull composed mainly of soft tissues.

Several detailed studies using various methods to measure growth curves among known specimens have suggested that there is actually only one valid Pterodactylus species, P. antiquus.

The following list includes names that are based on German material presently, or until recently, thought to be pertaining to Pterodactylus proper and names based on other material that has as yet not been assigned to other genera.

The genus name was emended to the current Pterodactylus by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815.

The youngest immature Pterodactylus antiquus specimens (alternately interpreted as young specimens of the distinct species P. kochi) have a small number of teeth (as few as 15), and the teeth have a relatively broad base.

This makes it potentially the earliest documented pterosaur find; the "Pester Exemplar" of Pterodactylus micronyx was described in 1779 and possibly discovered earlier than the Mannheim specimen, but it was at first considered to be a fossil crustacean.

Wagler's 1830 restoration of an aquatic Pterodactylus Collini, in his first description of the Mannheim specimen, did not conclude that it was a flying animal.