Pterosaur size

 ( Pterosaurs ) 

included the largest flying animals ever to have lived. They are a clade of prehistoric closely related to . Species among pterosaurs occupied several types of environments, which ranged from aquatic to . Below are the lists that comprise the smallest and the largest pterosaurs known .

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Smallest pterosaurs The smallest known pterosaur is Nemicolopterus with a wingspan of about . The specimen found may be a juvenile or a subadult, however, and adults may have been larger. Anurognathus is another small pterosaur, with a wingspan of and in body mass,Witton, M.P. (2008) "A new approach to determining pterosaur body mass and its implications for pterosaur flight". Zitteliania B28: 143-159 along with an indeterminate non-pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Portland Formation, although it is indeterminate and known from very fragmentary remains, only including a tooth, and part of the wrist bones.

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Pterosaurs with largest wingspan This is a list of pterosaurs with estimated maximum wingspan of more than 5 (16 feet):

1. Hatzegopteryx thambema
2. Quetzalcoatlus
3. Cryodrakon boreas
   Gregory S. Paul (2025). 9780691232218, Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691232218
4. Undescribed specimen from Mongolia
5. Thanatosdrakon
6. Arambourgiania philadelphiae
7. Tropeognathus mesembrinus
8. Pteranodon longiceps
9. Thapunngaka shawi
10. Alanqa saharica
11. Santanadactylus araripensis Wellnhofer, P. (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs. New York: Barnes and Noble Books. pp. 124. .
12. Cearadactylus atrox

The largest of non-Pterodactyloidea pterosaurs as well as the largest Jurassic pterosaur was Dearc, with an estimated wingspan between and . Only a fragmentary rhamphorhynchid specimen from Germany could be larger (184 % the size of the biggest Rhamphorhynchus). Other huge non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs are Sericipterus, Campylognathoides and Harpactognathus, with the wingspan of , , and , respectively. Middle Jurassic Angustinaripterus had a wingspan of .Peter Wellnhofer, 1991

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Speculation about pterosaur size and flight Some species of pterosaurs grew to very large sizes and this has implications for their capacity for flight. Many pterosaurs were small but the largest had wingspans which exceeded . The largest of these are estimated to have weighed . For comparison, the wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of living at up to but usually weighs less than . This indicates that the largest pterosaurs may have had higher than modern birds (depending on wing profile) and this has implications for the manner in which pterosaur flight might differ from that of modern birds.

Factors such as the warmer climate of the Mesozoic or higher levels of atmosphere oxygen have been proposed but it is now generally agreed that even the largest pterosaurs could have flown in today's skies.Witton, Mark P. (2013). Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy. Princeton University Press. . Partly, this is due to the presence of air sacs in their wing membranes, and that pterosaurs launched into flight using their front limbs in a quadrupedalism stance similar to that of modern bats, a method faster and less energy taxing than the bipedal launching of modern birds.Witton, Mark P. (2013). Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy. Princeton University Press. .

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See also

• List of pterosaur genera
• Timeline of pterosaur research
• Smallest organisms
• Largest prehistoric animals
• Dinosaur size

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External links

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