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Pteranodon -

Pteranodon is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying lizards. Pteranodon sternbergi, for example, had a wingspan measuring as long as a school bus. Its toothless jaws were long and narrow, much like those of a pelican.

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Pteranodon -

Pteranodon means "toothless wing." Fossils unearthed in North America date this creature back 90 to 100 million years, during the Late Cretaceous Period.

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Rhamphorhynchus -

Rhamphorhynchus is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs. Easily identified by a diamond-shaped rudder at the tip of its tail, Rhamphorhynchus had a long skull and large, marble-like eyes.

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Rhamphorhynchus -

Rhamphorhynchus flew in the skies during the Late Jurassic Period, 159 million to 144 million years ago. Fragmentary fossil remains have been found in England, Spain, Germany, and Tanzania.

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Pterodaustro -

Another airborne behemoth, Pterodaustro had a beak armed with hundreds of fine needlelike teeth, similar to those of the modern pink flamingo. This suggests that it was used for straining plankton.

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Pterodaustro -

Fossils unearthed in Chile and Argentina—among the very first pterosaur remains discovered in South America—date Pterodaustro to the Early Cretaceous Period, about 105 million years ago.

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Nyctosaurus -

Nyctosaurus means "night lizard" or "bat lizard," in reference to the wing structure somewhat paralleling those of bats. Some species of Nyctosaurus had something akin to huge deer antlers on their heads. Despite this outwardly clumsy-looking anatomical feature, these creatures were apparently able to glide very long distances without flapping their wings.

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Nyctosaurus -

This particular genus of pterosaur lived along the shores of the Niobrara Formation of the United States, which back then was a huge shallow sea, during the Late Cretaceous Period, around 80 million years ago.

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Quetzalcoatlus -

Widely believed to be the largest flying creature that ever lived, Quetzalcoatlus likely stood about 16 feet (5 m) tall and had a wingspan of up to 36 feet (11 m). Its neck was up to 10 feet (3 m) long, which supported a huge crested head of roughly the same size. How it was able to take off has baffled paleontologists for decades.

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Quetzalcoatlus -

The first Quetzalcoatlus fossils were discovered in Texas in 1971. Dated back to the Late Cretaceous Period, 68 million years ago, three skeletons of these enormous beasts are on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

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Pterodactylus -

This menacing-looking beast was the first pterosaur to be named and identified as a flying reptile. While smaller than Pteranodon and Quetzalcoatlus, Pterodactylus was nevertheless a voracious carnivore.

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Pterodactylus -

Pterodactylus lived during the Late Jurassic Period. Fossil remains discovered in Germany date back to 150 to 148 million years.

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Tapejara -

A truly terrifying-looking creature, Tapejara was a small but fast and highly maneuverable pterosaur. Its gigantic semicircular crest and bony prong extending back behind the head added a frightening dimension to Tapejara. Despite its appearance, this pterosaur was a frugivore, living mostly on fruits and nuts.

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Tapejara -

Tapejara lived during the Early Cretaceous Period, about 127 to 112 million years ago, and resided in South America (Brazil, in fact). The first and so far only Tapejara fossil was discovered in 1989.

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Dimorphodon -

Imagine a Tyrannosaurus rex with wings and you'd some idea of what Dimorphodon must have looked like in the air. This intimidating flying reptile ranks among the earliest known pterosaurs, and had an appetite for small vertebrates.

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Dimorphodon -

Dimorphodon is a genus of pterosaur from Europe and would have patrolled the skies during the early Jurassic Period, about 201 to 191 million years ago. The first fossil remains were discovered in England in 1828 at Lyme Regis in Dorset at what is now dubbed the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Hatzegopteryx -

The Hatzegopteryx also ranks as one of the largest animals ever to take to the air. It boasted an estimated wingspan of 33 to 39 feet (10 to 12 m) and an unusually large and robust skull. An arch predator, Hatzegopteryx had an insatiable appetite for dinosaur flesh, though it wasn't a dinosaur itself.

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Hatzegopteryx -

The first remains of Hatzegopteryx were found during a dig in the late 1970s in Transylvania, western Romania. Later excavations in 1991  dated fossil fragments back to the Late Cretaceous Period, around 66 million years ago.

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Ornithocheirus -

Possessed of a wingspan of about 10 feet (3 m) and weighing 70 pounds (32 kg), Ornithocheirus had a long slender neck and a bony protuberance at the end of its nose. The diet of these bizarre-looking creatures would have been fish.

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Ornithocheirus -

Ornithocheirus flew during the Middle Cretaceous Period, around 95 million years ago. The first fossil of Ornithocheirus was found in England in 1827. Incidentally, Ornithocheirus is a term derived from a Greek word meaning "bird hand."

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Dsungaripterus -

The most notable features of Dsungaripterus are its long, narrow, tweezer-like upcurved jaws with a pointed tip that it used to pluck prey from cracks in rocks. An able flyer, Dsungaripterus was built for short flights and abrupt landings, suggesting a mostly terrestrial lifestyle.

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Dsungaripterus -

Dsungaripterus was one of a variety of pterosaurs with heads and beaks specially adapted for the specialization of their diet. Dsungaripterus lived during the Early Cretaceous Period in what is now China, around 120 million years ago.

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Archaeopteryx -

One of the most visually stunning of all creatures listed here, Archaeopteryx is a genus of feathered bird-like dinosaurs. The animal represents one of the oldest-known animals with bird-like characteristics.

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Archaeopteryx -

Archaeopteryx lived in the Late Jurassic Period around 150 million years ago, in what is now southern Germany. The first Archaeopteryx fossil was unearthed in 1861, a find that baffled and intrigued paleontologists. Up until then, no creature of this type was known from so far back.

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Dromaeosaurid -

The small- to medium-sized feathered carnivores known as Dromaeosaurid  flourished in the Cretaceous, a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago.

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Dromaeosaurid -

The discovery of Dromaeosaurid fossils revealed feather morphology and a complex wing structure. Dromaeosaurids were, however, classified as fast-running lizards and defined as raptors.

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Sinosauropteryx prima -

Things became a lot clearer when  Sinosauropteryx prima was discovered. This was a small, meat-eating dinosaur that lived about 125 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous Period. It had a covering of primitive feathers, which were thin and hair-like.

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Sinosauropteryx prima -

The discovery of Sinosauropteryx prima in 1996 was one of the most important fossil finds of the century. It was the first non-avian dinosaur found with feather-like structures, providing further evidence for the link between dinosaurs and birds.

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Caudipteryx -

Also living during the Early Cretaceous was Caudipteryx. They were feathered and extremely birdlike in their overall appearance, to the point that some paleontologists suggested Caudipteryx was a bird.

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Caudipteryx -

The discovery of Caudipteryx further stoked the debate over the relationship of birds and dinosaurs. Caudipteryx fossils unearthed in China in 1997 were identified as having feather impressions. But when all is said and done, it's generally agreed within the scientific community that birds evolved from a group of meat-eating dinosaurs called theropods, a process that started more than 150 million years ago.

Sources: (Britannica) (Jurassic Coast) (Earth Archives)

See also: The most colorful and exotic birds on the planet

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