Pterodactylus is a genus of extinct pterosaurs. It is thought to contain only a single species, Pterodactylus antiquus, which was the first pterosaur to be named and identified as a flying reptile and one of the first prehistoric reptiles to ever be discovered.
Original copper engraving of the P. antiquus holotype by Egid Verhelst II and published by Italian scientist Cosimo Alessandro Collini, 1784
Holotype specimen of the species P. spectabilis, now considered a juvenile specimen of P. antiquus
Fossil pelvis of a large specimen, now referred to the dubious species P. grandipelvis
A P. antiquus specimen (AMNH 1942) showing muscle impressions in the chest and wing membranes
Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous. Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger.
Pterosaur
Conical tooth, possibly from Coloborhynchus
The skull of Thalassodromeus
A neck vertebra of Arambourgiania
