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.
Quetzalcoatlus is a genus of azdarchid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous Maastrichtian age of North America. Its two confirmed species, along with other azdarchids, were the largest known flying animals of all time. Azhdarchidae is a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks and giant wingspans. Its name comes from the Aztec feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl. The type species is Q. northropi, named by Douglas Lawson in 1975. The genus also includes the smaller species Q. lawsoni, which was known for many years as an unnamed species, before being named by Brian Andres and Wann Langston Jr. (posthumously) in 2021.
Gregory Scott Paul is an American freelance researcher, author and illustrator who works in paleontology. He is best known for his work and research on theropod dinosaurs and his detailed illustrations, both live and skeletal. Professionally investigating and restoring dinosaurs for three decades, Paul received an on-screen credit as dinosaur specialist on Jurassic Park and Discovery Channel's When Dinosaurs Roamed America and Dinosaur Planet. He is the author and illustrator of Predatory Dinosaurs of the World (1988), The Complete Illustrated Guide to Dinosaur Skeletons (1996), Dinosaurs of the Air (2001), The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2010), Gregory S. Paul's Dinosaur Coffee Table Book (2010), The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs: 2nd Edition (2016), The Princeton Field Guide to Pterosaurs (2022), The Princeton Field Guide to Mesozoic Sea Reptiles (2022) and editor of The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs (2000).
Zdeněk Michael František Burian was a Czech painter, book illustrator and palaeoartist. Burian's artwork played a central role in the development of palaeontological reconstruction and he is regarded as one of the most influential palaeoartists of all time.
Dimorphodon was a genus of medium-sized pterosaur from the early Jurassic Period. It was named by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1859. Dimorphodon means "two-form tooth", derived from the Greek δι meaning "two", μορφη meaning "shape" and οδων meaning "tooth", referring to the fact that it had two distinct types of teeth in its jaws – which is comparatively rare among reptiles. Dimorphodon inhabited Europe.
Darren William Naish is a British vertebrate palaeontologist, author and science communicator.
Azhdarchidae is a family of pterosaurs known primarily from the Late Cretaceous Period, though an isolated vertebra apparently from an azhdarchid is known from the Early Cretaceous as well. Azhdarchids included some of the largest known flying animals of all time, but smaller cat-size members have also been found. Originally considered a sub-family of Pteranodontidae, Nesov (1984) named the Azhdarchinae to include the pterosaurs Azhdarcho, Quetzalcoatlus, and Titanopteryx. They were among the last known surviving members of the pterosaurs, and were a rather successful group with a worldwide distribution. Previously it was thought that by the end of the Cretaceous, most pterosaur families except for the Azhdarchidae disappeared from the fossil record, but recent studies indicate a wealth of pterosaurian fauna, including pteranodontids, nyctosaurids, tapejarids and several indeterminate forms. In several analyses, some taxa such as Navajodactylus, Bakonydraco and Montanazhdarcho were moved from Azhdarchidae to other clades.
Scleromochlus is an extinct genus of small pterosauromorph archosaurs from the Late Triassic period. The genus contains the type and only species Scleromochlus taylori, named by Arthur Smith Woodward in 1907.
Peter Trusler is an Australian artist known for his work on wildlife art, as well as for his scientifically rigorous reconstructions of prehistoric fauna.
Cultural depictions of dinosaurs have been numerous since the word dinosaur was coined in 1842. The non-avian dinosaurs featured in books, films, television programs, artwork, and other media have been used for both education and entertainment. The depictions range from the realistic, as in the television documentaries from the 1990s into the first decades of the 21st century, or the fantastic, as in the monster movies of the 1950s and 1960s.
Pterodactyloidea is one of the two traditional suborders of pterosaurs, and contains the most derived members of this group of flying reptiles. They appeared during the middle Jurassic Period, and differ from the basal rhamphorhynchoids by their short tails and long wing metacarpals. The most advanced forms also lack teeth, and by the late Cretaceous, all known pterodactyloids were toothless. Many species had well-developed crests on the skull, a form of display taken to extremes in giant-crested forms like Nyctosaurus and Tupandactylus. Pterodactyloids were the last surviving pterosaurs when the order became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period, together with the non-avian dinosaurs and most marine reptiles.
John Sibbick is a British freelance illustrator and palaeoartist, known for his depictions of prehistoric life and for his fantasy art.
Paleoart is any original artistic work that attempts to depict prehistoric life according to scientific evidence. Works of paleoart may be representations of fossil remains or imagined depictions of the living creatures and their ecosystems. While paleoart is typically defined as being scientifically informed, it is often the basis of depictions of prehistoric animals in popular culture, which in turn influences public perception of and fuels interest in these animals. The word paleoart is also used in an informal sense, as a name for prehistoric art, most often cave paintings. Alternative concept of this term is the domain of archeological society.
Pterosaurs included the largest flying animals ever to have lived. They are a clade of prehistoric archosaurian reptiles closely related to dinosaurs. Species among pterosaurs occupied several types of environments, which ranged from aquatic to forested. Below are the lists that comprise the smallest and the largest pterosaurs known as of 2022.
Dimorphodontidae is a group of early "rhamphorhynchoid" pterosaurs named after Dimorphodon, that lived in the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic. While fossils that can be definitively referred to the group are rare, dimorphodontids may have had a broad distribution, with fossils known from the UK, the southwest United States, and possibly Antarctica.
Pteranodontia is an extinct group of ornithocheiroid pterodactyloid pterosaurs that lived during the Late Cretaceous period of North America and Africa. They were some of the most advanced pterosaurs, and possessed highly specialized cranial crests that may have served as sexual attraction, with males having a much larger crest.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to dinosaurs:
All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals is a 2012 art book on the palaeoartistic reconstruction of dinosaurs and other extinct animals by John Conway, C. M. Kosemen and Darren Naish. A central tenet of the book concerns the fact that many dinosaur reconstructions are outdated, overly conservative, and inconsistent with the variation observed in modern animals. This focus is communicated through an exploration of views of dinosaurs and related animals that are unusual and sometimes even confusing to viewers, but which are well within the bounds of behaviour, anatomy and soft tissue that we see in living animals.
Robert (Bob) Nicholls is a British paleoartist.
Eleanor Kish, also known as Ely Kish, was an American-Canadian artist, best known for her paleoart depicting dinosaurs and other prehistoric life.
