Rhamphorhynchus, meaning “prow beak”, is one of those iconic creatures which appears in practically every children’s book about prehistoric life. It was a pterosaur with a 6 foot wingspan which lived in Europe during the late Jurassic Period 150-145 million years ago.
Some specimens have been found in England, Spain, and Portugal, but the overwhelming majority of fossils of Rhamphorhynchus have been found in the Solnhofen Formation in Bavaria, Germany. During the late Jurassic Period, this place stood upon the shore of the Tethys Sea, a warm semi-tropical sea which in some ways is analogous to the modern-day Mediterranean. The limestone of the Solnhofen Formation is famous throughout the world for its well-preserved fossils of insects, starfish, sea urchins, crustaceans, fish, turtles, crocodylomorphs, ichthyosaurs, pterosaurs, small dinosaurs like Compsognathus, and primitive birds like Archaeopteryx.
Rhamphorhynchus is the quintessential kite-tailed pterosaur. It had a long rod-like tail fitted with a diamond-shaped vane on the end. It was probably used to stabilize the pterosaur in flight during power dives as it snapped up fish from the water, similar to how the fletchings on the back of an arrow keep the arrow flying straight. To help grab the fish that it likely fed on, Rhamphorhynchus had jaws filled with large interlocking teeth like a Venus fly trap.
Rhamphorhynchus muensteri. © Jason R. Abdale (January 16, 2026).
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Categories: Uncategorized, Paleontology
DINOSAURS AND BARBARIANS 
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