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Pteranodon (/ t ə ˈ r æ n ə d ɒ n /; from Ancient Greek: πτερόν, romanized: pteron ' wing ' and ἀνόδων, anodon ' toothless ') [2] [better source needed] is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with P. longiceps having a wingspan of over 6 m (20 ft).
Pteranodontoidea (or pteranodontoids, from Greek meaning "toothless wings") is an extinct clade of ornithocheiroid pterosaurs from the Early to Late Cretaceous (early Valanginian to late Maastrichtian stages) of Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America. [1]
Pterodactyloidea (derived from the Greek words πτερόν (pterón, for usual ptéryx) "wing", and δάκτυλος (dáktylos) "finger") [1] is one of the two traditional suborders of pterosaurs ("wing lizards"), and contains the most derived members of this group of flying reptiles.
A later study suggested that while smaller-bodied pterosaurs were most likely superprecocial or precocial, owing to the consistent or decreasing wing aspect ratio during growth, certain large-bodied pterosaurs, such as Pteranodon showed possible evidence of their young being altricial, due to the fast rate the limb bones closest to the body ...
This paper included the first illustrations of Pteranodon wing bones. [52] A pterosaur fossil bearing an impression of the wing membrane was discovered. This was the first physical evidence of the structure which had previously been inferred purely from skeletal anatomy. [21] Owen described the new genus Coloborhynchus. [53] 1875
Partly, this is due to the presence of air sacs in their wing membranes, [22] and that pterosaurs launched into flight using their front limbs in a quadrupedal stance similar to that of modern bats, a method faster and less energy taxing than the bipedal launching of modern birds.
Alexander Kellner, for example, named several additional species for specimens previously classified as Pteranodon, and placed P. sternbergi in a distinct genus, Geosternbergia. Kellner re-defined Pteranodontidae as the most recent common ancestor of Pteranodon longiceps , Geosternbergia sternbergi and Dawndraco kanzai , and all of its descendants.
Ornithocheiromorpha (from Ancient Greek, meaning "bird hand form") is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Fossil remains of this group date back from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods (Valanginian to Turonian stages), around 140 to 92.5 million years ago.