Pterosaurs are creatures commonly seen in the Impossible Pictures programmes. They are flying reptiles. They are also known as pterodactyls, but that termin is incorrect - it is the name of a specific family of pterosaurs, which, incidentally, are not featured in any of Impossible Pictures productions.zoo
Jurassic Pterosaurs - Anurognathus on the left and Rhamphorhynchus on the right. (Official WWD images.)
Cretaceous pterosaurs, from left to right - Ornithocheirus, Tapejara, Quetzalcoatlus. (Official WWD images.)
Known Pterosaurs in the series[]
- Peteinosaurus - The first pterosaur seen in the series. It was a dimorphodontid, somewhat poorly flying pterosaurs that hunted insects and other small prey on the ground.
- Anurognathus - A small species that lived much like modern microbats do today.
- Rhamphorhynchus - A toothed pterosaur. It was a nocturnal piscivore, its preferred method of hunting was dip-feeding;
- Pterodactylus - A more advanced contemporary of Rhamphorhynchus. It was one of the first short-tailed pterosaurs that appeared on the planet.
- Ornithocheirus - A large toothed pterosaur that is the main focus in the episode Giant of the Skies. The species featured is now known as Tropeognathus. They where somewhat like modern albatrosses, eating fish, and living life out at sea.
- Tapejara - A pterosaur with an elaborate head crest that was featured briefly. Being a tapejarid, it was a frugivorous or herbivorous form that lived inland. The species shown, T. navigens, might actually be a species of Tupandactylus.
- Quetzalcoatlus - A large species, even though it had a minor appearance in Death of a Dynasty, it plays a more prominent role in the movie. It was stork like in feeding behaviour, picking up small to med size animals off the ground.
- Pteranodon - One of the most famous of all pterosaurs. It was large species that probably dived like gannet to get food.
- Pterodaustro - a pterosaur with a unique feeding style, it is featured in Wonderbook: Walking with Dinosaurs video game. It filter fed.
- Dorygnathus - a fish-eating pterosaur that appeared in the app Walking with Dinosaurs: Inside Their World.
- Unidentified pterosaurs- there is a number of unidentified pterosaurs in the series. One species appeared in the WWD pilot, possibly an early version of Rhamphorhynchus or Dimorphodon. Others were featured in Giant of the Skies and Spirits of the Ice Forest WWD episode, but only as minor, or even background, characters.
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