NAME

Meaning - Pteranodon means “Winged and Toothless”
Pronounced - ter-AN-o-DON
Named By - Othniel C. Marsh
When Named - 1876
DIET

Carnivore (meat-eater) - Pteranodon probably ate mostly fish
SIZE

Wingspan - 25-33 foot (7.8-10 m) longStanding Height - 6 ft (1.8 m) tall at the hips
Weight - 55 pounds (25 kg)
WHEN IT LIVED

Late Cretaceous period, about 85-75 million years ago.
WHERE IT LIVED

Fossils have been found in Kansas, USA, North America and in England, Europe.
FOSSILS

Many Pteranodon fossils have been found. The first Pteranodon skull was found on May 2, 1876, in Smoky Hill River, Wallace County, Kansas, USA, by S. W. Williston, a fossil collector working for Othniel Marsh.
CLASSIFICATION
  • Kingdom Animalia (animals)
  • Phylum Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)
  • Superclass Tetrapoda (four-legged animals)
  • Class Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.)
  • Order Pterosauria - (flying reptiles)
  • Suborder Pterodactyloidea (“wing finger”) - later pterosaurs that appeared late in the Jurassic and died in the K-T extinction, 65 million years ago. They had short tails. Examples include Pterodactylus, Pteranodon, and Quetzalcoatlus.
  • Family Pteranodontidae
  • Genus Pteranodon
  • Species P. longiceps (type species named by Othniel C. Marsh, 1876)
INTERESTING FACTS

Pteranodon was a flying reptile that lived during the time of the dinosaurs - it was not a dinosaur, but was a close relative of the dinosaurs. Pteranodon’s wing-span is longer than that of any known bird. It had a crest on its head, no teeth at all, and a very short tail.
LINKS

A detailed page on Pteranodon.
A coloring/information printout on Pteranodon.