Hard

Rhamphorhynchus

Rhamphorhynchus muensteri

RAM-foh-RING-kus· “beak snout”

🪽 Pterosaur🕰️ Jurassic🐟 piscivore🦴 Rhamphorhynchidae

1.8 m

Length

0.3 m

Height

2 kg

Weight

A long-tailed Jurassic pterosaur with a diamond-shaped skin vane at the tip of its tail and a mouthful of forward-pointing teeth for snatching fish. Exquisite specimens come from the Solnhofen limestone. A pterosaur, not a dinosaur.

When

Late Jurassic, ~150 million years ago

Found in

Germany

Discovered

Hermann von Meyer, 1847

Did you know?

Its long tail ended in a diamond-shaped skin vane that likely acted as a rudder.
Forward-angled teeth were perfect for grabbing slippery fish.
Known from beautifully preserved Solnhofen fossils, some with skin traces.

Artwork: Dmitry Bogdanov, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.