Rulers of the Prehistoric Skies - Arizona Museum of Natural History

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Table of Contents 3. Goals For Visit 4. Vocabulary Words 5. Telling Geologic Time 6. What is a Pterosaur 7. Evolution of Flight 8. Taxonomy Chart 9. Arm/Wing Bone Comparison 10. Pterosaur Ontogeny 11. Mesozoic Era 12. Sharovipteryx 13. Icarosaurus siefkeri 14. Rhamphorhynchoids 15. Eudimorphodon 16. Dimorphodon macronyx 17. Libellulium longilatum 18. Pterodactylus 19. Anurognathus 20. Archaeopteryx lithographica 21. Pterodactyloids 22. Pterodaustro 23. Nyctosaurus 24. Quetzalcoatlus 25. Pteranodon 26. Ptweety baby Pteranodon 27. Pterosaur fossil match 28. Pterosaur fossil match answer sheet 29. Beaks, Teeth and Ridges Worksheet 30. Beaks, Teeth and Ridges –Pterosaur and Bird Diversity 31. Beaks, Teeth and Ridges – Pterosaur and Bird Diversity answers 32. Rulers of the Prehistoric Sky Word Find 33. Pterosaur Finger puppet 34. Pterosaur coloring page 35. Pterosaur coloring page 2 GOALS FOR VISIT
To help understand the history of life on earth through the study of prehistoric reptiles.
To understand the place of the pterosaurs in the Age of Dinosaurs G
Students Will Understand That:
Q
U Essential Questions
The prehistoric world of Mesozic Era was very different from our own. Not everything that lived during the Mesozoic Era were dinosaurs. Pterosaurs were flying reptiles, not dinosuars Students Will Know:
What is a pterosaur?
What happened to the pterosaurs? Were pterosaurs dinosaurs? K Vocabulary
What a fossil is. How a fossil is formed. How paleontologist use scientific inquiry to study fossils. V
evidence paleontologist extinct predator fossil pterosaur hypothesis retile Mesozoic Era scavenger paleontology Learning Plan
L
Pterosaur fossil match Beaks, Teeth and Ridges – Pterosaur and Bird Diversity Worksheet Beaks, Teeth and Ridges – Pterosaur and Bird Diversity Questions Rulers of the Prehistoric Sky Word Find Pterosaur Finger Puppet Pterosaur Coloring Sheets Supports the Following State Standards
Science Strand 1 The Inquiry Process Concepts 1, 2, 3, 4 Strand 2 The History and Nature of Science, Concept 1 Strand 4 Life Science, Concepts 1, 2, 3, 4 Strand 6 Earth and Space Science, Concept 1 SS
Vocabulary Words Evidence Something that can be shown to support a proposed idea. In paleontology, the evidence is often from fossils, but important forms of evidence can also come from other sources, such as the study of genetics and the study of living animals. Extinct To have died out, no longer existing. Fossil The preserved remains or traces of organisms that lived in the past. Hypothesis A hypothesis is a temporary conclusion used to explain certain facts. Mesozoic Era The time period between 248 million years ago and 65 million years ago was called the Mesozoic Era. It is divided into three periods: the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. Paleontologist A scientist who specializes in paleontology. Paleontology The study of plant and animal life in past geologic times, based on fossil remains, their relationships to existing organisms and environments, and their importance to the earth’s history. Predator An organism that exists by catching and feeding upon other organisms Pterosaur An order of reptiles that lived during the time of the dinosaurs. They were the first vertebrates to fly. Reptile A cold blooded vertebrate that uses lungs to breathe, has an external covering of scales and usually lays eggs. Scavenger An organism that feeds on garbage and dead creatures. What is a Pterosaur Pterosaurs, whose name means “winged lizard” were an order of reptiles that lived with the dinosaurs during the Mesozoic Era, the Age of Reptiles and went extinct during the K‐T extinction, around 65 MYA. Among them were the largest animals that ever flew and they ruled the prehistoric skies for 150 million years. Uncontested in the air, pterosaurs colonized all continents and evolved into a vast array of shapes and sizes. Of the 120 named species the smallest pterosaur was no bigger than a sparrow and the largest had a wingspan of nearly 40 feet, wider than an F‐16 fighter plane. There were two suborders, Rhamphorhynchoids, now called primitive pterosaurs, and Pterodactyloids. The earliest known Pterosaur appeared about 220 million years ago during the Late Triassic. They were the earliest vertebrates to have evolved powered flight, although they were not the first flying animals. There were insects that could fly long before pterosaurs appeared. The first group of primitive pterosaurs was the rhamphorhynchoids (ram for rink choids). They remained the only vertebrate fliers for over 65 million years and eventually diversified into a variety of forms and niches. By the Late Jurassic the rhamphorhynchoids had been pretty much replaced by the more advanced pterodactyloids. Early species had long fully toothed jaws and bony tails while later forms had a much shorter tail and some lacked teeth. The first pterosaur fossils were described in 1784 by the Italian naturalist Cosimo Collini, who misinterpreted his specimen as a seagoing creature that used its long front limbs as paddles. It was first suggested that pterosaurs were flying creatures by Georges Cuvier in 1801. Pterosaur fossils have been found on every continent. The anatomy of pterosaurs was highly modified from their reptilian ancestors for the demands of flight. They had hollow bones, were lightly built, and had small bodies. Pterosaurs had large brains and good eyesight. Most of pterosaur skulls had elongated beak like jaws. Some advanced forms were toothless, although most had a full complement of teeth. Pterosaurs are well known for their often elaborate crests. They did not have feathers but fossils suggest some may have had a type of fur made up of hairlike filaments known as pyncofibers. They could fly long distances using large light weight wings covered in a leathery membrane. This thin but tough membrane stretched between the outside of the legs and to the elongated fourth fingers, forming the structure of the wing. Claws protruded from the other fingers. They could flap their wings and fly, but the larger ones such as Quetzalcoatlus probably relied o n updrafts (rising warm air) and breezes to help fly. When on the ground, the more primitive pterosaurs would have had a difficult time moving. They had a large rear membrane that shackled their rear legs, making walking almost impossible. The shape of the upper legs and hips indicates they could not walk upright. They also had long claws on their feet and they were most likely more at home in trees or on a rocky cliff when not in the air. By contrast, the pterodactlyoids were quite comfortable on the ground as indicated by the amount of footprints in the fossil record. The large membrane had split, freeing the legs to be brought under the body. This allowed them to walk much more easily, which in turn enabled them to diversify and move into new environments. Pterosaurs were carnivores and ate fish they caught at the surface of the oceans. Others ate mollusks, crabs, perhaps plankton for some species, insects and scavenged large animals on land. Pterosaurs are often referred to in the popular media as dinosaurs but this is wrong. The term “dinosaur” is properly restricted to a certain group of reptiles with an upright stance and therefore excludes the pterosaurs as well as the various groups of extinct marine reptiles, such as the plesiosaurs and mosasaurs. Birds did not descend from pterosaurs but from small feathered land bound dinosaurs. Evolution of Flight At no other time in the history of life has there been an animal like the pterosaur. They first appear in the fossil record during the late Triassic, about 220 million years ago. The first scientists to discover a pterosaur fossil thought it was a swimmer, because of its webbed appendages. There are two theories surrounding its ancestry. The first theory states that pterosaurs evolved from terrestrial reptiles that spread their arms for balance while running. The second theory states that pterosaurs evolved from an arboreal reptile. Like a flying squirrel, this reptile learned to navigate its environment by jumping, and eventually flying from tree to tree. Either way, pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve flight and they did it in a way that was all their own. The mechanics of pterosaur flight are not perfectly understood by paleontologists. Pterosaurs achieved powered flight, in that flight was sustained, however the mechanical details are not completely understood by paleontologists. The pterosaur wing has been the source of fascination and debate among paleontologists. The pterosaur wing was a membrane that consisted of three sections: the brachiopatagium, the uropatagium, and the propatagium. The membranous wing was extremely flexible and could stretch to change shape during flight to adjust to air flow, a process called passive cambering. There are a handful of pterosaur fossils in which parts of this membrane are preserved. When examined under a special light, fibers that criss‐cross and intricate patterns of blood vessels are visible. However, the majority of information about pterosaur flight has been gleaned from pterosaur skeletons. Pterosaur skeletons had features that made their way of flight unique. First, pterosaurs had a bone called the pteroid bone. This bone originated in the wrist and pointed towards the shoulder. Its purpose was to support the section of the “forewing”, called the propatagium. Some paleontologists think this bone pointed forward during flight, which broadened this section of the wing, increasing lift during flight. Pterosaurs also had an elongated pinky bone. This pinky bone was several feet long in some pterosaurs and it supported the largest part of the wing membrane, the brachiopatagium. These features combined to make pterosaurs apt flyers. Other vertebrate flyers alive today achieved flight through means different than the pterosaurs. Bats are also capable of powered flight. Bats boast 1,000 different species and the title of being the only mammals capable of flight. Their wings are membranes, similar to the pterosaurs. However, unlike the pterosaurs, bats have sections of membranous wing stretched between each of their long, downward‐pointing “fingers”. Birds are the only other vertebrate group to have ever achieved powered flight. Unlike bats and pterosaurs, bird wings are not membranous. Instead, they consist of muscular arms from which extend dozens of feathers which act to steer and lift the bird during flight. The first birds are found in the fossil record during the late Jurassic, about 140 million years ago. Archaeopteryx is widely regarded as the earliest feathered flyer. It was about the size of a pigeon and in many ways more closely resembled a dinosaur than a bird. Its features, including claws, a long bony tail and teeth, caused Archaeopteryx to be originally described as a theropod dinosaur. However Archaeopteryx had fully functional feathers and wings, qualifying it as the earliest bird. Its relationship to modern birds is still being debated. So although pterosaurs look more like dinosaurs and existed at the same time as many of the best‐known dinosaurs, they were not as closely related to the dinosaurs as modern birds. Pterosaurs were successful and able flyers and the first vertebrate flyers to have ever existed. The largest flyer of all time, the Quetzalcoatlus, is a pterosaur. Additionally, pterosaurs’ fossil record stretches 150 million years, which is about the same amount of time that birds have existed. Lastly, pterosaurs were highly specialized depending upon their ecological niche. The fossil record is scant and so the story of the pterosaurs remains incomplete. Everything that is understood about pterosaurs is the product of the examination of the relatively few fossils worldwide along with foot prints and partial skeletons. This branch of paleontology is an exciting one, in which creativity and a unique perspective are just as important as diligence and scientific knowledge. Flight is one of the greatest achievements of life on earth and the first vertebrate flyers, pterosaurs, are equally impressive and awe‐inspiring. Pterosaur Ontogeny Ontogeny is the study of the development of an organism throughout its life. Unlike evolution, which is concerned with the change of a species over generations, ontogeny is the development of a species over its lifespan. For example, the rate at which a dog’s head grows compared to the rest of its body is not constant throughout its life. In the beginning of a dog’s life, the head is large compared to its body size. Eventually, the head is proportionate to its body. When studying fossils, ontogeny can give important clues to the lives of extinct animals. Ontogeny can lead to clues about parental care, mating behaviors and environmental pressures such as predators. One pterosaur study that revealed clues about the lives of pterosaurs concentrated on the growth of beaks in Pteranodon. Paleontologists found that Pteranodon beak size maintained the same proportions throughout different stages of its life. This might indicate that these pterosaurs could eat and hunt relatively soon after hatching. This, in turn, might mean they were independent hunters from a young age. In comparison, some modern birds are unable to hunt on their own as hatchlings, relying on their mothers to either bring them food or to swallow and regurgitate food that is easier for them to eat. However, ontogeny studies don’t always provide conclusive evidence. Some paleontologists found that another pterosaur had highly‐developed wings at a young age, which meant they could fly independently almost as soon as they hatched. Yet, these pterosaurs, Rhamphorhynchus, exhibited growth for years after they were fully capable of flying. Why would the wings keep getting bigger in comparison to body size if they were already fully functional? These studies can be as informative as they can be challenging to interpret. Ontogeny is a useful and informative lens through which paleontologists can not only discover new insights into the lives of pterosaurs, but it can also generate even more questions. Mesozoic Era The climate of the Mesozoic Era was generally warmer and more tropical than what we experience on Earth today. The seasons were milder, sea levels were higher and there was no polar ice. The polar regions had seasonal climates with windswept forests during the winter and cool damp rainforests during the summer. Greenhouse conditions existed and there could have been high levels of carbon dioxide in the air. For most of the time the pterosaurs lived, a great northern continent, Laurasia, and a great southern continent, Godwana, existed. These two were connected into a super continent called Pangea. Pangea altered global climate and ocean circulation. At the beginning of the Jurassic Period, most of the continents were still joined together until the Atlantic Ocean began to form and the Americas started to separate from Africa. As the Mesozoic Era progressed, the continents began to drift away from each other. During this same time, large parts of Arizona, Colorado and Utah were desert. However, at different times, shallow seas covered low‐lying landmasses, including much of present day Arizona. During the late Cretaceous Period a shallow sea, the Western Interior Seaway, separated east and west North America. The sounds of today’s rain forests ‐ thunder and falling rain, and the feel and smell of the wet ground may have been very similar to the greenhouse world the pterosaurs would have experienced during the Mesozoic Era. Sha
arovipteryxx Miiddle to Laate Triassicc 230 to 2225 million yyears ago Pronounced shah‐roe‐VIP‐teh‐rixx, Sharovipteeryx was an early glidingg reptile from
m the woodlands of central Asia. It waas named aftter Alexandeer Sharvo, th
he paleontologist who fo
ound in the Maadygen Form
mation of Kyrgyzstan in 1
1965. A slennder, lizard like creaturee with short arms, lon
ng legs and aa very long tail, it was ab
bout 8 inche s long and w
weighed abo
out a pound. Sharovipteryx was prrobably an in
nsectivore. It was bipeddal, most likeely spendingg a fair amou
unt of time wakking, judgingg by its long legs. It forelimbs appeaar too short ffor quadrupedal walkingg or climbing.. It may haave been clo
osely related or even anccestral to pteerosaurs, altthough this remains controve
ersial. It is th
he oldest kno
own animal known to haave a glidingg membranee attached to
o its limbs, a ttrait which w
would later e
evolve into the vertebrate aerialists,, such as thee pterosaurss and later, batts. Howeverr, while pterosaurs and b
bats expand ed their arm
ms and fingers to supporrt their win
ngs, Sharovip
pteryx is the only known animal to hhave evolved
d hind limb b
based wings.. It has bee
en suggested that a smaaller membrane around its sides and
d/or forelimbs may havee been pre
esent. Given its overall appearance, spe
ecifically the
e long tail annd membran
nes attached to its hind aand possibly ffront limbs, it would be tempting to
o think that SSharovipteryyx was at thee root of pterosau
ur evolution. However, tthis is a far from universsally accepteed conclusion. As an example,, Sharovipteryx, an archo
osaur, was n
not capable oof powered flight, but could only gliide from tree
e to tree. Th
his is an adaption that haas arisen nu merous times in the aniimal kingdom
m, and not jjust among rreptiles. Exaamples of this are the flyying squirrel and sugar ggliders. Some paleontologists think it maay have been
n a leaping aanimal, sprin
nging up into
o the air and
d then control its fall w
with its wings. This idea gives credennce to the b
belief that ptterosaurs evolved ffrom running, leaping an
ncestor. Oth
hers suggestt Sharovipterryx ran up trrees on its sharply cclawed rear llegs and then spring into
o the air. Artist renditio
on of Sharovipteeryx courtesy of dinosaurs.abou t.com us siefkeri
IIcarosauru
Late Triiassic 230 tto 200 milllion years ago Icarosaurrus siefkeri w
was a humm
mingbird sized gliding repptile of the laate Jurassic North Amerrica. Pronounced ICK‐ah‐rroe‐SORE‐uss, the name iis Greek for “Icarus lizarrd” and was named for Icarus, th
he figure of G
Greek mytho
ology who flew too closee to the sun on his artificial wings.
This tiny butterfly likke reptile was about 4 to
o 7 inches lonng had a win
ngspan of ab
bout 10” and
d weighed about 2 to 3
3 ounces. Iccarosaurus lived in the w
woodlands off eastern No
orth Americaa during th
he Triassic pe
eriod and itss diet probab
bly consistedd of insects aand other sm
mall animalss. The fossil was discovvered by thre
ee teenage b
boys about 550 years ago
o in a New Jeersey quarryy, in what is the Lockaton
ng Formation
n. One of the boys, Alfreed Siefker, to
ook the fosssil to the American
n Museum o
of Natural History where
e it could be cleaned and
d studied. The fossil wass a rare find,, a one‐of‐a‐‐kind, a small delicate an
nd nearly coomplete skeleton. Studies o
of the specim
men revealed
d a specialized anatomyy that pushed
d the origin of winged vertebrattes back by aabout one m
million years. Icarosauruus had elonggated ribs wh
hich supportted a thin mem
mbrane that enabled the
e reptile to gglide from tr ee to tree, m
much like thee modern daay Draco lizaard from Ind
donesia doess today. Icarrosaurus andd the living fflying dragon
n, Draco vola
ans, are excelllent examplles of convergent evoluttion, in whic h relatively unrelated organisms un
nder similar se
elective presssures indep
pendently evvolve similar characteristtics, in this ccase, extended ribs to su
upport a gliding membraane. Like mod
dern reptiless, Icarosauru
us was not capable of poowered fligh
ht. The mem
mbranous “wings” w
were covere
ed in skin, the upper surfface was connvex and thee lower surfaace concavee. This creaated a simple
e airfoil struccture well su
uited to glidiing. Icarosaurrus was closely related tto the contemporary European Kuehhneosaurus and the earllier Coelurosaurus and w
was only distaantly related
d to the pterrosaurs. Although Icaro
osaurus was gliding arround prehisstoric New Jersey before
e the earliesst pterosaur and 80 million years before birds too
ok to the air. This tiny re
eptile had go
one extinct bby the start o
of the Jurasssic period. Image courtesy of American Museum of Natural History Image courtesy of dinosaurs.about.com “Rhamphorhynchoids” Late Triassic 220 MYA to Late Jurassic 160 MYA Primitive pterosaurs, once called “Rhamphorhynchoids” (ram for rink choids), whose name means “prow beaks”, were the earliest type of pterosaurs, appearing in the Triassic period and became extinct at the end of the Jurassic. These were the first flying vertebrates. Paleontologists are increasingly reluctant to use the name “Rhamphorhynchoids” because the differentiation between the two types of pterosaurs is not as clear cut as once thought. For example, one creature, Darwinopterus, had a rhamphorhynchiod tail but a pterodactyl head. Rhamphorhynchoids are characterized by their large skulls, long tails, short necks and long narrow wings. The skull itself made up more than 50% of the animal’s overall body size. These skulls have numerous openings, including a separate opening located between the eye sockets. This third opening may have helped reduce the weight of the large skull. The skull rests on a short neck with seven vertebrae. The crest was also smaller. The jaws of these primitive pterosaurs had teeth that were multi‐cusped and often had different kinds of teeth. The shape of the teeth varies from type to type, indicating different diets and feeding habits. The long tail had up to forty vertebrae and was cross‐braced and stiffened by a system of tendons. Many species had a diamond shaped flap of skin at the tip of their long, pointed tail. The function of the tail remains unclear, it certainly helped it steer once airborne but it may also have helped in counterbalancing the weight of the skull when the animal was on the ground. The wing membrane, as in all pterosaurs, stretched from its elongated fourth finger. “Rhamphorhynchoids” likely flapped their wings to fly. Some examples of “Rhamphoroynchoids” are Dimorphodon, Rhamphorhynchus, Anurognathus and Eudimorphodon. These creatures ruled the skies for 65 million years and over that time period diversified into a variety of forms and niches. Image courtesy of www.prehistory.com Eudimorphodon Late Triassic, 210‐203 MYA Eudimorphodon, pronounced YOU‐die‐MORE‐fo‐don, was discovered in 1973 near Bergamo, Italy. The nearly complete skeleton was found in shale from the Late Jurassic, making it one of the oldest pterosaurs then known. Belonging to the suborder of pterosaurs known as rhamphorhynchoids, this small creature lived along the shores of Western Europe. Eudimorphodon had a wing‐span of 2 to 3 feet and had the characteristic wing structure of all pterosaurs, with forelimbs embedded in an extended flap of skin. Based on the structure of its breastbone, paleontologists believe it may have been able to flap its primitive wings. It also had a long bony tail that may have had a diamond shaped flap similar to the later Rhamphorhynchus. If so, the flap would have helped to steer and adjust its course in mid‐air. The name Eudimorphodon comes from ancient Greece and means “true dimorphic teeth. It had a mouthful of densely packed teeth packed into a jaw only 6 centimeters long. The front of the jaw was filled with fangs, 4 on each side of the top jaw and 2 on each side of the bottom jaw. Right behind these fangs was a line of smaller multi‐pointed teeth, with 25 in the upper jaw and 26 in the lower jaw. The shape of teeth indicate a piscivorous (fish) diet, confirmed by preserved stomach contents containing the remains of fish. Wear along the side of the teeth suggests the creature may have also fed on hard‐shelled invertebrates. Young Eudimorphodon had slightly different shaped teeth and may have had a more insectivorous diet. Though not as well known as Pteranodon or Rhamphorhynchus, Eudimorphodon holds an important spot in paleontology as one of the earliest of all pterosaurs. Image courtesy of dinosaurs.about.com Image courtesy of Wikipedia Dimorphodon maccronyx Middle
e to Late Ju
urassic 1755 to 160 M
MYA Dimorphodon macro
onyx was a rh
hamphorhyn
nchoid or priimitive ptero
osaur that lived along th
he shores off Europe and
d Central Am
merica. Nam
med by Richaard Owen in 1850, its name is Greek for “two‐formed tooth” and is prono
ounced die‐MORE‐for‐d on. The maacronyx referrs to the largge claws on the forelimbs. Found re
elatively earrly in the palleontologicaal history in 1
1828 at Lyme Regent in
n England byy Mary Annin
ng. Early pale
eontologistss disagreed aabout wheth
her it was a tterrestrial fo
our footed reeptile while other spe
eculated it m
may have run
n on two leggs. It took yeears for natu
uralists to reealize they w
were dealing w
with a flying retile. Dimorphodon had a w
wing span of four feet and weighed about five p
pounds. It h
had a large h
head which is much largerr than other pterosaurs w
with a puffinn‐like beak. The beak haad two distin
nct types of tteeth. Each jaw had fou
ur or five fan
ng‐like teeth followed byy thirty or so
o smaller teeeth. The large
er front teeth were posssibly used to snag fish annd the shorteer ones in th
he back for grinding them up. Th
he general cconclusion is that its diett was primarrily fish, alth
hough there is some eviidence that iit could have
e eaten insects. Dimorphodon had a short but strrong and flexible neck a nd a long th
hin tail with aa triangular shaped flap of skin at the tip. Itss legs were ssprawled outt to the sidee, a leg form not yet foun
nd in any other pterosaur. It is eviden
nt it would have spent m
most of its no
on‐flying tim
me hanging frrom branchess or clinging to rocky led
dge with the claw of the toe. It would have been
n able well w
with its large aand light‐we
eight wings. The long thin tail wouldd have helpeed stabilize its flight. Imagge courtesy of ddinosaurs.about.com Phootograph courtessy of wiki‐pedia.org Libelluliium longilaatum Late Jurrassic perio
od 150 milllion yearss ago Libelluliu
um longilatum
m was a largge ancient drragonfly tha t lived in Europe duringg the Early Tithonian
n of the late Jurassic perriod. It was named in 18837 and is reecognized byy its large powerfull wings. Libeellulium long
gilatum’s body was abouut 57mm and had a wingg span of 145mm. Dragonflies first appe
eared duringg the Early P
Permian Periiod, about 250 million yeears ago. They have nott changed much over the
e eons, makiing them on e of the oldeest and mosst successful living gro
oups of inseccts. Dragonflies, along with damselflies, belong tto the Orderr Odonata. TThis group o
of insects havve small anttennae, longg, slender ab
bdomens and
d large mem
mbranous win
ngs, Dragonflies cannot fold their win
ngs against th
heir bodies, unlike mostt other typess of insect. TThe insect’s main sensory organs arre their large
e compound
d eyes, which
h are made up of nearlyy 28,000 indiividual elements. Although
h their six leggs are not ve
ery useful for walking, thhey are veryy effective fo
or perching aand for captu
uring prey. A
Adult dragon
nflies are exccellent flierss and feed on
n a variety o
of insects. Th
he larval portion of their life is spen
nt in freshwaater. Fossils off this insect have been fo
ound in the Solenhofen Limestone, near Bavaria, Germany.. These lim
mestone bed
ds have been
n mined for ttheir fine graained limesttone which is used for lithograp
phic printing. These late
e Jurassic bed
ds are also faamous for p
producing fossils of exceptional preservaation. Duringg the late Ju
urassic, this aarea of Germ
many was co
overed by a ssea with a se
eries of island
ds and coasttal lagoons. These waterrs were salin
ne rich and o
oxygen poorr so any creatture’s remains that were
e washed in were prese rved until th
hey could bee covered in layers of fine marine sediments. Many typ
pes of marin
ne and land aanimals as w
well as plant fossils have been found
d in the Solenhoffen Limeston
ne beds, man
ny preserved
d in almost pperfect cond
dition. Inseccts such as Libelluliu
um longilatum
m were not inhabitants of the Solennhofen Sea b
but were blo
own in, wash
hed in or fell in and then preserved. Photo courtessy of ip.nhm.orgg Pterrodactyluss Late Jurasssic 150‐1444 MYA Pterodacctylus is pron
nounced TER
RR‐o‐DACK‐ttill‐us and m eans “wingeed finger” in Greek. It w
was found on
n the shores of Europe and South Affrica. It was the first pteerosaur to bee named and
d identified
d as a flying reptile. Origginally name
ed Petro‐Dacctyle by Geo
orges Cuvier in 1809, it w
was later Latinized to the
e current Pteerodactylus in 1815 by C
Constantine SSamuel Rafin
nesque. This small flying repttile was lighttly built with
h hollow bonnes, a small b
body, long curved neck aand a short taill. The long sskull had a lo
ong pointed beak with a short hook on the end. It had a relativelyy large brain and good eyesight. Th
he long jaws were filled w
with small pointed teeth
h. Pterodacctylus was a carnivore an
nd probably fed on inseccts, fish and other small animals. A tough, leathery me
embrane stretched betw
ween its bod y, the top off its legs, and its elongatted th
4 fingerr, forming th
he structure of the wingss. Claws prootruded from
m the other ffingers. Pterodacctylus had a w
wing span of three to fivve feet and ccould flap itss wings, achieving poweered flight. Skull cressts have bee
en found only on large, ffully adult sppecimens, indicating thiss was a displlay feature that only devveloped with
h maturity. Pterodactyluus bred seassonally, acco
ounting for the differentt age groups which have been found
d together. TThese large groups havee led to some confusion about the number of sspecies. Som
me individua ls that weree originally th
hought to represen
nt different sspecies were
e later determined to bee juveniles. TThe two most well‐know
wn species aare the Ptero
odactylus antiquus and P
Pterodactyluus longirostriis. Pterodactylu
us antiquus Photography courte
esy of Carnegie M
Museum Image courteesy of N. Tamuraa Anurognathus Late Jurassic 155 to 140 MYA Anurognathus, pronounced anYOOR og NATH us, was a tiny pterosaur that lived in the woodlands of Western Europe during the late Jurassic. Its name is Greek for “frog jaw” or “without tail or jaw”. Skeletons have been found in Bavaria, Germany. This pterosaur, the size of a hummingbird, had a wingspan of 50 cm ( about 20 inches) and a 9 cm (about 3 inches) body and weighed only a few grams. An insectivore, it had a short head 2 cm (less than an inch) filled with pinlike teeth for catching insects. The short, deep skull was characteristic of the primitive pterosaurs. In time they developed longer, thinner heads. The wings were very thin and delicate, stretching from the elongated fourth fingers back to its ankles. It is a considered a rhamphorhynchoid although its tail was comparatively short, allowing it more maneuverability for hunting in the woodlands. Anurognathus would have chased and eaten insects such as lacewings and damselflies but some of the dragonflies may have been to big for it to take on. Some scientists have suggested that Anurognathus may have ridden on the backs of the large suaropods, as some birds do today. They may have sat on the backs of animals in grazing herds in order to feed on the insects the dinosaurs would have attracted. The bugs surrounding the large dinosaurs would have provided Anurognathus with a steady source of food. The dinosaurs may have also provided some degree of protection from much larger pterosaurs. Image courtesy of About.com Dinosaurs Archaeopteryx lithographica Late Jurassic 150 t0 145 MYA Archaeopteryx lithographica lived in the late Jurassic, about 150.8 to 148.5 million years ago. The first Archaeopteryx fossil found, a feather, was found in 1861 in limestone near Solnhofen, Germany. So far, less than 10 specimens have been found, including the feather. It may well be one of the most important fossils ever discovered. The name means “ancient wing from the printing stone.” Archaeopteryx is derived from ancient Greek and the lithographica comes from the limestone in which it was discovered. The stone is a smooth fine grained limestone which was used in printing. Since the late 19th century it has generally been accepted by paleontologists as being the first bird. More recent studies have cast some doubt on this assumption. Some claim that it is actually a non‐avian dinosaur closely related to the origin of birds. Archaeopteryx is considered a bird because it has feathers. It had many dinosaurian characteristics not found in modern birds as well as features found in birds but not in dinosaurs. About the size of a crow, it had short broad wings and a long tail. Like modern birds it had feathers, a lightly built body with hollow bones, a wish bone and reduced fingers. Unlike birds, it also had jaws lined with sharp teeth, three fingers ending in curved claws on each wing, head covered in scales, flat sternum, belly ribs and a long bony tail. Its wingspan was about 1.5 feet and and it weighed from 11 to 18 ounces. Archaeopteryx may have been able to fly, but probably not very far and not very well. Most were generalists capable of feeding in both the shrubs and open growth as well as alongside the shores of the lagoon. It most likely hunted small prey, seizing it with its jaws if is was small enough or with its claws if the prey was larger. The part bird/part dinosaur features of Archaeopteryx provide strong evidence of the dinosaur ancestry of birds. It has long been accepted that it was a transitional form between the birds we see flying around and the predatory dinosaurs such as Deinonychus. Scientists are still debating where Archaeopteryx fit into the evolutionary family tree. Bird fossils are somewhat rare since bird bones are hollow and fragile and usually deteriorate instead of fossilizing. The Solnhofen area where the fossils were found was a stagnant lagoon during the Mesozoic Era. There was little or no oxygen in the water near the bottom, a situation which helped preserve many dead organisms and thereby boost the chance of fossil formation because decay after death is very slow in anoxic waters. Most of the Archaeopteryx fossils include impressions of feathers, among the oldest direct evidence of the structure. Moreover, since these feathers are of such an advanced form, flight feathers, these fossils are evidence that the evolution of feathers began before the Late Jurassic. Whether th
he feathers w
were used fo
or regulatingg body temp
perature or ffor flight is sttill open for discussion. Photo co
ourtesy of Be
erkeley.edu Photo courttesy of Wikip
pedia.org Ptero
odactyloid
ds Pterodacctyloidea we
ere the secon
nd of the two suborderss of pterosau
urs, appearin
ng in the mid
d to late Jurasssic and dyin
ng out in the
e K‐T extinction. Their n ame is derivved from thee Greek word
ds for wing and finger. They compe
eted in the ssame ecolog ical niche ass the primitivve pterosaurs and even
ntually replaced them. P
Pterodactyl iis a commonn term for th
his suborder. The ptero
odactyloids were marke
edly different from the pprimitive pteerosaurs oncce called the Rhampho
orhynchoidss. They had shorter tailss, many skeleetal modificaations and aa larger brain
n. To compenssate for the ssmaller tail aand correspo
onding loss oof flying maneuverabilitty, Pterodacctyloids deve
eloped larger brains to d
deal with thee more comp
plex task of steering with the head and
d wings. Their win
ngs also becaame larger ffor increased
d control. M
Most flapped their wings to fly and co
ould glide fastter, farther aand higher in
n the sky, sw
wooping dow
wn to pluck ffish from thee surface of the oceans, lakes and rivvers. Some p
paleontologiists speculatte that the b
biggest ptero
osaurs neverr flew due to th
heir size. Others say the
ese large creaatures soareed on warm air currents. The largesst, Quetzalccoatlus, had some featurres, such as ssmall feet annd a stiff necck that weree ideal for stalking ssmall dinos o
on land. The skulls remained large and acccounted forr a large perccentage of tthe total bod
dy size. The skull had the ssame numbe
er of openings as the priimitive suboorder but in m
many cases the nostril opening is incorporated into the eye socket. Although t he necks beecame longer, the number of vertebrae (7) remain
ned the same
e. Many pte
erodactyls had well deve
eloped crestts on their h ead, in somee a form of d
display taken
n to extremess. The giant crested form
ms may have
e been for seexual displayy. The jaws became mo
ore varied an
nd, if present, the teeth became mo
ore specializeed. The mosst advanced forms lackeed teeth. Artist’s depiction of Quetzalcoatllus feeding on
n ground Image cou
urtesy of Wiki pedia.org Pterodaustro Early Cretaceous 140 to 130 million years ago Pterodaustro, pronounced TEAR‐roe‐DAW‐stroh, is Greek for “Southern wing”. Found in Argentina and Chile, it was the first pterosaur to be discovered in South America. It had a wing span of up to ten feet and weighed four to five pounds. and is most often compared to the modern flamingo, which it may have closely resembled in appearance, if not in every aspect of its anatomy. It had a long curved beak with a thousand or so bristle‐like teeth that extended upwards from the lower jaw. Pterodaustro lived along lakes of sea shores. It probably waded in shallow water, straining food with its tooth comb. A method called filter feeding. Its diet likely consisted of plankton including small crustaceans, creatures that were abundant in the sediment of the fossil sites. The upper jaw did not have bristle teeth, but instead had small globular teeth, suggesting that the small invertebrates were probably mashed before swallowing. This jaw arrangement would have allowed Pterodaustro to scoop up a beak full of water and drain the water out while keeping the food inside. It also allowed the beak to be closed without damaging the bristle teeth. At least two specimens have been found with gizzard stones in the stomach cavity, a first for pterosaurs, supporting the idea that it ate mainly small hard shelled invertebrates. Since shrimp and planktons are predominanly pink, some paleontologists speculate that Pterodaustro may have had a distinctly pinkish hue. The scleral rings of Pterodaustro, which are rings of bones found in the eyes of several groups of vertebrate animals, except for mammals and crocodilians, indicate it may have been nocturnal. There could be several reasons for this, including avoiding daytime predators, less feeding competition, or the relative abundance of the food supply at night. It could have been a combination of any of these. Because of the huge number of discovered fossils ‐ over 750 known specimens ‐ the growth cycle can be easily established. Pterodaustro’s fastest period of growth took place over its first two years and in this time the individual would reach up to half of its adult size. It is then thought to have reached reproductive maturity, although it could continue to grow for an additional five years until fully grown. A fossilized egg has even been found with an embryo inside. Image ccourtesy of dinosaaurcentral.com Image courtesy of Bayy State Replicas Nyctosaurus
Late Crettaceous 85
5 to 84.5 m
million yearrs ago Pronounced NICK‐toe‐SORE‐us, tthe name off this genus oof pterodacttyloid pterossaur means “night lizzard” in Gree
ek. Nyctosaurus fossils w
were first founnd in the Niob
brara Formation of the Sm
mokey Hills Chalkk of Kansas. TThis area had
d been covere
ed by the Greaat Western Seaway of thee Cretaceous .. there havve been manyy species assiggned to this ggenus but how
w many are valid is not yett known. Nyctosaurrus was similaar in anatomyy to its close rrelative and ccontemporaryy Pteranodon
n. It had a win
ng span of 10
0 feet and its relatively lon
ng wings were
e similar in shhape to modeern seabirds. Nyctosauruss was smaller ovverall than Ptteranodon and weighed ab
bout 15 poun ds. It had long and extrem
mely pointed
d jaws with tips tthat were thin and needle sharp. Nycto
osaurus ate fiish. Nyctosaurrus was the o
only pterosaur to have lostt all of its claw
wed fingers w
with the excep
ption of the w
wing finger. On
n this finger tthe fourth phalanx was losst. These cha nges likely made its moveement on the ground ve
ery difficult, le
eading paleon
ntologists to speculate thaat it spent alm
most all its tim
me in the air aand spent little time in the air. The lackk of claws with
h which to gr ip surfaces w
would have maade climbing or clinging to
o cliffs or tree
e trunks impo
ossible. The most striking featu
ure in at leastt one species of Nyctosaurrus was its exttraordinarily large antler‐llike cranial cre
est. This distiinctive crest ,, close to two
o feet in olderr adults, was rrelatively gigaantic when compared
d to the rest o
of the body and was over tthree times thhe length of tthe head. The crest was m
made up of two
o long grooved
d spars, one p
pointed upwaards and the oother pointed
d backwards, rising from aa common base projecting up and back from the b
back of the skkull. The two spars were n
nearly equal in length, 1.3 feet in lenggth for the upward pointingg spar and 1 ffoot for the b
backward pointing spar and both were
e nearly as long or longer tthan the bodyy. Nyctosaurrus appears tto have grown quickly, goiing from hatcchling to adultt size in undeer a year. Sub
b adult speccimens lack any trace of a head crest in
ndicating thatt the crest beggan to develo
op after the first year of life. The crest may have con
ntinued to gro
ow througho ut its life. Some scie
entists had initially hypothesized that th
he crest may supported a skin headsail. However th
here is no fossiil evidence fo
or a membran
ne being attacched to the sppars and it is more likely th
hat the crest acted as mainly for display. Pho
oto courtesy of Carnegie M
Museum Artisst impression
n courtesy of W
Wikipedia Quetzalcoatlus Late Cretaceous 67‐65 MYA The largest known flying animal of all time was a pterosaur named Quetzalcoatlus pronounced kwet zel KWAT lus It was the last known pterosaur and survived to the very end of the Cretaceous period. The first Quetzalcoatlus fossils were discovered in Big Bend National Park, Texas in 1972 by Doug Lawson. He named the creature after the Aztec feathered‐serpent god Quetzalcoatl. Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan as big as a small plane (over 40 feet) and may have weighed 200 to 300 hundred pounds. It was lightly built with a 10 foot long neck. Its legs were 7 feet long, as was its head. Quetzalcoatlus had slender, toothless, sharp pointed jaws and a head topped by a long bony crest. It had a large brain and big eyes and probably had good eyesight. Furlike fuzz may have covered its body. The wings were covered by a leathery membrane. This thin but tough membrane stretched between its body, the top of its legs and its elongated fourth fingers. Claws protruded from its other fingers. It was a good soarer and was certainly able to cover large distances. Unlike most other pterosaurs, Quetzalcoatlus lived inland and possibly fed on the ground like modern storks by hunting small vertebrates on land or in small streams. Other scientists believe that it may have lived rather like a vulture and fed on the corpses of dead dinosaurs or that it flew low over warm shallow seas plucking fish from the surface. But some paleontologists, taking note of the long slender jaws suggest it probed soft ground and pools for mollusks and crustaceans Image courtesy of About.com Dinosaurs Image courtesy of thedinsoaurs.org Pteranodon Late Cretaceous 83 to 70 MYA Pronounced The‐RAN‐uh‐DON, the name means “winged and toothless”. Pteranodon is a genus of pterosaurs that lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 83 to 70 million years ago. It was an important part of the animal community present in the Western Interior Seaway of North America. Fossils have been found in present day Kanas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming and South Dakota. During the Cretaceous, this area was covered by a large inland sea. Pteranodons resembled a giant pelican in many ways. They were about six feet long with a 25 to 33 foot wing spread and weighed between 25 and 35 pounds. They had hollow bones, were lightly built, had almost no tail and small bodies which may have been covered in fur‐like pyncofibers. They had large brains indicating greater intelligence than other reptiles and the eyes were also relatively large meaning the animals relied on good eyesight. One of the most distinctive features of Pteranodon is the head crest. The crest was made up of skull bones (frontals) projecting upward and backward from the skull. The size and shape of the crest varied due to a number of factors, including age, gender and species. The crest may have helped balance the long jaws and beak, providing stabilization as the animal flew, and was a distinguishing sexual characteristic between male and female. Adult Pteranodons could be divided into two distinct groups. The females were smaller and had a smaller, rounded head crests and very wide pelvic canals. The size of the pelvic canals was probably to allow for the passage of eggs. The other class, representing males, were much bigger, had narrow hips and very large crests. Females outnumbered males two to one in the fossil record, which may meant the Pteranodon was polygynous with a few males competing for association with groups of females. Pteranodons had a toothless beak similar to that of modern birds. The beaks were long and slender and ended in sharp points. The upper jaw was longer than the lower jaw. Pteranodon were carnivorous and probably hunted for fish like the modern day pelican, scooping fish out of the water and swallowing it whole. Although fish was the bulk of their diet, they may have also been scavengers, eating dead or living mollusks, crabs and insects. The wings were covered by a thin, tough, leathery membrane that stretched between its body, the top of its legs and its elongated fourth fingers, forming the structure of the wings. Claws protruded from the other fingers. Almost certainly a soaring animal, it used rising warm air to maintain altitude, a common strategy among large winged animals. Among modern birds, albatrosses and vultures are adept at soaring. Although it would have depended upon soaring it probably required an occasional active rapid burst of flapping. Studies indicate it was capable of substantial flapping flight, the wings indicating that it could flap its wiings like a biird. Pteranoodon flew weell because iit weighed vvery little for its large bod
dy size due to its hollow bones. It most likely took offf from a stan
nding, quadrrupedal pos ition. It wou
uld have used
d its forelimbs for leveraage as they vvaulted them
mselves into
o the air in a rapid leap. They may also have beeen capable o
of taking offf from waterr. There are
e two traditiionally recoggnized species, Pteranoddon sternberrgi and Ptera
anodon longicepss. The main difference is the shape of the crests in adult males and posssibly the an
ngle of certain
n skull boness. P sternbeergi is older tthan P longicceps and it h
has been sugggested thatt P sternbeergi became P longiceps through a p
process know
wn as anagenesis. The first Pteranodon skull was fo
ound in 1876
6 in Smokey Hill River, W
Wallace Coun
nty, Kansas. It was the ffirst pterosaur found outside of Euro
ope. The fosssils have beeen found in
n rocks formed in marine e
environmentts, indicatingg that the an
nimal spent m
much of its ttime gliding over ocean waters se
earching for fish. Pteran
nodon is kno
own from moore fossil speecimens thaan any otherr pterosau
ur, with abou
ut 1,200 speccimens know
wn to sciencce. Many of them are w
well preserved with com
mplete skulls and articulaated skeletons. Map courtesy of Wikipedia
Map of N
North Americca during the mid‐Cretaceous Periodd showing th
he Western Interior Seaway. Photo Courttesy of American
n Museum of Naatural History Photo courtesy of www.oceanssofkansas.com Mounted
d cast of adu
ult male P lon
ngiceps Flight oof P longicepss as shown aas in the opeening skeleton scenes of the Natio
onal Geograp
phic IMAX m
movie “Sea M onsters” Photo Cou
urtesy of the Royal Ontario Musseum Phooto Courtesy of W
Wikipedia Mounte
ed casts of fe
emale and m
male A
Artist’s rend
dition of P steernbergi in P sternb
bergi skeleto
ons fflight Ptweety b
baby Ptera
anodon Not much
h is known about the breed
ding cycles off Pteranodon or the number of offsprin
ng produced. Paleontologists believe
ed the Pteran
nodons were n
nest builders and looked aafter their you
ung. They maay have exhibited parentaal displays of affection, inccubated the nnest, brought food to the yyoung and evven taught the
em how to flyy. Photo Courtesy of Mike Keller, A
AzMNH Young Ptteranodon caast posed in feeding possition Beaks, Teeth, and Ridges‐ Pterosaur and Bird Diversity Now that you’ve studied the skulls of some birds and pterosaurs, what can you guess about their colors, diet, and hunting styles? Use the Educator Resource packet, your own research about these birds, and the pictures on this worksheet to answer these questions. Don’t forget‐ paleontology is just as much about finding answers as it is about asking questions. 1. Are pterosaurs and birds related? ________________________________________________________________________ 2. How are pterosaurs related to dinosaurs? ________________________________________________________________________ 3. How are birds related to dinosaurs? ________________________________________________________________________ 4. Which of the pterosaurs do you think were carnivorous? ________________________________________________________________________ 5. What birds on this list catch flying prey? ________________________________________________________________________ 6. Do you think any of the pterosaurs might have caught flying prey? ________________________________________________________________________ 7. How might big eyes help these two animals? ________________________________________________________________________ 8. How do Great Blue Herons catch their food? ________________________________________________________________________ 9. Did any of the pterosaurs have beaks similar to the Great Blue Heron? Which ones? ________________________________________________________________________ 10. Which bird walks on sandy beaches and sifts their food from the sand? ________________________________________________________________________ 11. Is there a pterosaur that might use their beak to sift through sand and water? How do you know? ________________________________________________________________________ 12. Now that you’ve answered these questions, what else do you want to learn about these pterosaurs? Write three questions that you’ve come up with while completing this activity. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Beaks, Teeth, and Ridges‐ Pterosaur and Bird Diversity Now that you’ve studied the skulls of some birds and pterosaurs, what can you guess about their colors, diet, and hunting styles? Use the Educator Resource packet, your own research about these birds, and the pictures on this worksheet to answer these questions. Don’t forget‐ paleontology is just as much about finding answers as it is about asking questions. 1. Are pterosaurs and birds related? Not directly. Birds are the direct descendants of dinosaurs. . ________________________________________________________________________ 2. How are pterosaurs related to dinosaurs? Dinosaurs and pterosaurs are part of the same group—Archosauria – which also includes extinct marine reptiles..
________________________________________________________________________ 3. How are birds related to dinosaurs? Birds are the direct descendant of dinosaurs. ________________________________________________________________________ 4. Which of the pterosaurs do you think were carnivorous? Any answer works‐ these were all carnivorous.
________________________________________________________________________ 5. What birds on this list catch flying prey? Night Hawks ________________________________________________________________________ 6. Do you think any of the pterosaurs might have caught flying prey? Anurognathus ________________________________________________________________________ 7. How might big eyes help these two animals? Large eyes (with more blood vessels and better receptors) help the predator keep up with prey flying in a 3D ________________________________________________________________________ environment. 8. How do Great Blue Herons catch their food? They stalk fish in shallow water and quickly jab their beaks into the water to catch fish ________________________________________________________________________ 9. Did any of the pterosaurs have beaks similar to the Great Blue Heron? Which ones? Nyctosaurus and pteranadon ingens
________________________________________________________________________ 10. Which bird walks on sandy beaches and sifts their food from the sand? Roseate Spoonbill ________________________________________________________________________ 11. Is there a pterosaur that might use their beak to sift through sand and water? How do you know? gnathosaurus (wide, long beak) ________________________________________________________________________ 12. Now that you’ve answered these questions, what else do you want to learn about these pterosaurs? Write three questions that you’ve come up with while completing this activity. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Rulers of the Prehistoric Sky Word Find
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G
N
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C
W
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B
H
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V
V
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J
O
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K
K
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Y
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C
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X
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D
B
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Y
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D
A
Solution
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A
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L
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S
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P
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M
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R
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E
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R
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M
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Z
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U
R
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B
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O
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O
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A
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R
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N
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F
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N
S
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A
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A
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A
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O
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N
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M
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D
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R
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E
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+
(Over,Down,Direction) ARCHAEOPTERYX(22,8,S) ARIZONA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY(1,3,E) DIGIT(12,11,N) FIRSTFLIGHT(19,8,SW) FOSSIL(6,5,W) GLIDE(26,27,NW) HUMERUS(30,1,S) ICAROSAURUS(11,9,W) +
+
U
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O
P
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A
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T
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S
N
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C
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H
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M
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O
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F
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U
A
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D
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R
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A
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N
I
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Y
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R
L
G
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G
A
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C
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A
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T
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X
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N
E
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H
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N
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C
D
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I
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O
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H
I
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L
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T
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S
G
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O
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U
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R
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L
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LLONGILATUM(26,11,NW) MEMBRANE(1,19,SE) PTERANADON(1,13,NE) PTEROIDBONE(29,15,N) PTEROSAUR(9,6,E) RADIUS(22,2,SW) RHAMPHORYNCHUS(13,13,SE) ULNA(27,22,E) WING(19,7,NE) +
+
Y
+
E
N
O
B
D
I
O
R
E
T
P
+
+
+
+
+
+
N
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H
U
M
E
R
U
S
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A
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