Fossil: Ctenochasma pterosaur
Gallery Location
James and Louise Temerty Galleries of the Age of Dinosaurs
Geography: Place Collected
Europe, Germany, Bayern, Eichstaett-Wintershof
Object number
ROMVP52425
Credit Line
This acquisition was made possible with the generous support of the Louise Hawley Stone Charitable Trust
Taxonomy
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Reptilia
- Order Pterosauria
- Family Pterodactylidae
- Genus Ctenochasma
- SpecificEpithet elegans
Department
Natural History: Vertebrate Fossils
Description
This tiny, tailless pterosaur (flying reptile) probably ate insects, as it has a mouthful of very small, sharp teeth. The pterosaur’s elongated fourth finger forms the leading edge of the wing. It probably flapped its wings like a bat when it flew. Although small in size, this individual was an adult when it died. Pterodactylus elegans means elegant flight finger. The specimen comes from the famous 150-million–year-old Solnhofen limestone in Bavaria, Germany, which has yielded numerous remarkably complete fossils of vertebrates such as fish and pterosaurs.
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