Nyctosaurus

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Nyctosaurus
Fossil range: Cretaceous

Drawing of Nyctosaurus walking position

Conservation status

Extinct (fossil)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Pterosauria
Suborder:	Pterodactyloidea
Family:	Pteranodontidae
Genus:	Nyctosaurus Marsh, 1876

Species

N. lamegoi
N. gracilis

Synonyms

Nyctodactylus Marsh, 1881

Nyctosaurus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur notable for its extraordinarily large cranial crest, like its cousin, the more recent find, Thalassodromeus. A few scientists hypothesize that this crest, which resembles an enormous antler, maybe have supported a fleshy sail used for stability while skimming for fish. Its remains have been found primarily in the mid-western United States, which during the late Cretaceous Period, was covered in an extensive shallow sea. Early fossils of Nyctosaurus did not reveal the elaborate crest, only a smaller structure similar to the crest famously borne by Pteranodon. Nyctosaurus is the only pterosaur to have lost its clawed "fingers", with the exception of the wing finger, which is likely to have impaired its movement on the ground, leading scientists to conjecture that it spent almost all of its time on the wing and rarely landed. In particular the lack of claws with which to grip surfaces would have made climbing, or clinging to cliffs or treetrunks, impossible for Nyctosaurus. Nyctosaurus appears to have outlasted its relative Pteranodon and may have survived until the great extinction 65 million years ago.