Cretaceous Pterosaurs
The largest pterosaurs are found in this Era. Pteranodon longiceps had an amazing crest at the back of its skull. This crest must have been to allow the animal to turn its head in flight without causing neck damage. The jaw was smooth with no teeth and Pteranodon ate fish. These fossils are found all over the world, but the best specimens come from the Niobara Chalk of Kansas in the United States of America.
Pteranodon has been reconstructed as a life size flying model to see how these creatures really flew.
The photograph on the left was taken in 1984 for a TV program called Pterodactylus lives. It flew over the cliffs at Dorset in England.
The model was made by Steven Winkworth from scientific information provided by a scientist called Cherrie Bramwell.
This was the first large pterosaur model to fly, but American scientists went on to make a model of the larger pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus, which also flew very well.
