Rhamphorhynchus

Rhamphorhynchus in a live reconstruction

• Europe
• Tanzania

Rhamphorhynchus ( " beak snout" ) was a genus of long-tailed pterosaur from the Upper Jurassic. Fossils were found on Tendaguru in Tanzania, in England and in Nusplingen Plattenkalk in Württemberg and at Solnhofen and Eichstätt in Bavaria Franconia. In the Bavarian Solnhofen Rhamphorhynchus is the most common encountered pterosaurs. Some of the copies are so well preserved that the airplane skin is still visible. As with all original forms Rhamphorhynchus still had a long tail, which was reinforced by ligaments and having at its end a diamond-shaped skin sail, which supported the control.

Rhamphorhynchus wore in the upper jaw 20 and lower jaw 14 relatively large, forward-facing teeth that alternately attacked in the jaw is closed each other. Based on this dentition most species were probably fish -eaters, with a copy of Solnhofen, there were still remnants of the last fish meal. The skulls of the specimens found lengths between 3 (R. longicaudus ) and 19 centimeters ( R. longiceps ). The wingspan is between 40 centimeters and 1.75 meters ( R. longiceps ).

Rhamphorhynchus muensteri from Eichstätt with imprints of the wing membrane

Rhamphorynchus gemmingi, live reconstruction