# Pteranodon (Pteranodon longiceps) — DinoLand

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### id=17: Pteranodon (Pteranodon longiceps)

- URL: https://www.dinoland.ai/species.html?lang=en&id=17
- Diet: Flying
- Era: Cretaceous
- Period: 86–84 million years ago
- Length: 7 m span
- Weight: ≈20–30 кг
- Height: —
- Speed: до 80 km/h в полёте
- Habitat: Chalk seas, barrier islands, and nesting cliffs
- Region: North America
- Discovered: 1876, Othniel Charles Marsh

Fact: “Not a dinosaur—a pterosaur with a sail-like cranial crest.”

Description: Pteranodon is a giant pteranodontian pterosaur from the Western Interior Seaway. Males commonly bore towering, laterally compressed crests probably employed in sexual selection and species recognition. Toothless jaws with gently tapering rostra skimmed fish near the sea surface, while pneumatic bones and broad wing membranes supported efficient dynamic soaring.

Features:
  - Male crests may reach ~1.8 m in vertical height
  - Edentulous jaws terminate in streamlined rostral beaks
  - Extensive skeletal pneumaticity reduced wing loading

Related genera: Nyctosaurus, Tupuxuara, Cryodrakon


## Citation

Field Journal — Dinosaur Encyclopedia — https://www.dinoland.ai

Web: https://www.dinoland.ai/species.html?lang=en&id=17
Index: https://www.dinoland.ai/llms-en.txt