Genus
Valid Extinct

Rhamphorhynchus

Meyer 1847

Rhamphorhynchus is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs in the Jurassic period. Less specialized than contemporary, short-tailed pterodactyloid pterosaurs such as Pterodactylus, it had a long tail, stiffened with ligaments, which ended in a characteristic soft-tissue tail vane. The mouth of Rhamphorhynchus housed needle-like teeth, which were angled forward, with a curved, sharp, beak-like tip lacking teeth, indicating a diet mainly of fish; indeed, fish and cephalopod remains are frequently found in Rhamphorhynchus abdominal contents, as well as in their coprolites.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
30
Group
Ptérosaures
Piscivore Volant Marine
Rhamphorhynchus
click to enlarge
Wikimedia
Rhamphorhynchus
Rhamphorhynchus
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Pterosauria Order
Macronychoptera Unranked clade
Novialoidea Unranked clade
Breviquartossa Unranked clade
Rhamphorhynchidae Family
Rhamphorhynchinae Subfamily
Rhamphorhynchus Genus
Measurements
Length
1,26 m
Wingspan
1,81 m
Fossil sites 30 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇩🇪 Germany
25
🇵🇹 Portugal
3
🇹🇿 Tanzania
1
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
1
Geological formations
Solnhofener Plattenkalk
7
Solnhofen
7
Painten
2
Liegende Bankkalk
2
Altmühltal
2
Cabaços
1
Lower Kimmeridge marls
1
Nusplingen Limestone
1
Temporal distribution
Tithonian (149.2–143.1 Ma)
20
Kimmeridgian (154.8–149.2 Ma)
9
Oxfordian (161.5–154.8 Ma)
1
Species (13)
Odontorhynchus aculeatus subjective synonym of Rhamphorhynchus muensteri 152 Ma
Rhamphorhynchus curtimanus
Rhamphorhynchus etchesi 149 Ma
Rhamphorhynchus gemmingi subjective synonym of Rhamphorhynchus muensteri 152 Ma
Rhamphorhynchus hirundinaceus
Rhamphorhynchus intermedius subjective synonym of Rhamphorhynchus muensteri 152 Ma
Rhamphorhynchus longicaudus subjective synonym of Rhamphorhynchus muensteri 152 Ma
Rhamphorhynchus longiceps subjective synonym of Rhamphorhynchus muensteri 152 Ma
Rhamphorhynchus longimanus
Rhamphorhynchus muensteri 152 Ma
Rhamphorhynchus phyllurus subjective synonym of Rhamphorhynchus muensteri 152 Ma
Rhamphorhynchus suevicus subjective synonym of Rhamphorhynchus longimanus
Rhamphorhynchus tendagurensis nomen dubium, species not entered Rhamphorhynchus 149 Ma
Synonyms (1)
Rhamphorhynchus tendagurensis nomen dubium, species not entered Rhamphorhynchus
Images 6
Bibliography
Original description
R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution.
Bibliography (10)
M. O'Sullivan and D. M. Martill. 2015. Evidence for the presence of Rhamphorhynchus (Pterosauria: Rhamphorhynchinae) in the Kimmeridge Clay of the UK. Proceedings of the Geologist's Association 126(3):390-401 DOI ↗
G. Dietl and G. Schweigert. 2011. Im Reich der Meerengel. Der Nusplinger Plattenkalk und seine Fossilien.
E. Malafaia, F. Ortega, and F. Escaso, P. Dantas, N. Pimentel, J. M. Gasulla, B. Ribeiro, F. Barriga, J. L. Sanz. 2010. Vertebrate fauna at the Allosaurus fossil-site of Andres (Upper Jurassic), Pombal, Portugal. Journal of Iberian Geology 36(2):193-204 DOI ↗
A. Ősi and E. Prondvai. 2009. Forgotten pterosaurus in Hungarian collections: first description of Rhamphorhynchus and Pterodactylus specimens. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 252(2):167-180 DOI ↗
H.-V. Karl, E. Groning, and C. Brauckmann, N. Knotschke. 2008. First remains of the head of Steneosaurus (Crocodylomorpha: Teleosauridae) from the Late Jurassic of Oker (Lower Saxony, Germany). Studia Geologica Salmanticensia 44(2):187-201
G. Viohl and M. Zapp. 2007. Schamhaupten, an outstanding Fossil-Lagerstätte in a silicified Plattenkalk around the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian boundary (Southern Franconian Alb, Bavaria). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen 245(1):127-142 DOI ↗
R. A. Kemp. 1999. Solnhofen tetrapod taphonomy. University of Bristol
R. A. Thulborn. 1975. Teeth of ornithischian dinosaurs from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal, with description of a hypsilophodontid (Phyllodon henkeli gen. et sp. nov.) from the Guimarota lignite. Contribuição para o conhecimento da Fauna do Kimerridgiano da Mina de Lignito Guimarota (Leiria, Portugal). Serviços Geológicos de Portugal, Memória (Nova Série) 22:89-134
P. Wellnhofer. 1975. Die Rhamphorhynchoidea (Pterosauria) der Oberjura-Plattenkalke Süddeutschlands, Teil II, Systematische Beschreibung. Palaeontographica Abteilung A 148:132-186
H. Reck. 1931. Die deutschostafrikanischen Flugsaurier [The German East African pterosaurs]. Centralblatt für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Abteilung B: Geologie und Paläontologie 7:321-336