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Pteranodon sm

Pteranodon in Sea Monsters: A Walking with Dinosaurs Trilogy

Pteranodon was a large pterosaur, with a wingspan of 8 metres. However, it was lightweight, being only 100 kg or so with a body only about the size of a turkey. It is one of the most famous of pterosaurs. One of the most characteristic features is a crest projecting off the back of the skull. The function is unknown. The diet was small reptiles and fish, as fish bones have been found in their rib-cages. It has been suggested that they dived for fish by folding their wings back, similar to a modern-day gannet.

Pteranodon is often regarded and portrayed as a Late Cretaceous Pterosaur, associated only with North America, in erroneous media. However, Pteranodon as a genus were wildy successful - with many species spanning almost the entire surface of the globe from Japan to Kansas and from Europe to Argentina, with a time of between 122-65.5 Million Years Ago.

The media offerings of the BBC were not erroneous however, showing Pteranodon in Mid Cretaceous South America 100 Million Years Ago. Pteranodon is perhaps the second most famous Pterosaur - with the Pterodactylus (more commonly referred to as 'Pterodactyl', which is often sadly what many call all Pterosaurs) coming first, though the Pterodactylus was ultimately a rather modestly sized flying reptile, in comparison with Pteranodon and other huge species like the even larger Quetzalcoatlus.

Walking with Dinosaurs[]

Pteranodon wasn't in the main series.

Specials[]

Nigel Marven encounters several in the Chased By Dinosaurs special Land of Giants, feeding by the sea and flying in the air.

In Sea Monsters: A Walking with Dinosaurs Trilogy, a Pteranodon befriends Nigel on the boat, in the Most Dangerous Sea of all time. Due to it being 'Hell's Aquarium', sometimes 'the fish catch them!', says Nigel Marven, as he was watching a huge Xiphactinus breaking the water narrowly missing a fishing Pteranodon.

Pteranodon2

Pteranodon as shown in Primeval

In The Lost World, Pteranodon was one of the animals that lived on the island, but its old model wasn't reused so it has a different model in the film.

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