Pterosaur collection

Our pterosaur collection contains approximately 1,000 specimens and casts, from isolated incomplete bones to articulated skeletons on slabs.

British pterosaurs are well represented in the collection due to historic quarrying and collecting across the British Isles.

Specimens include:

• Dimorphodon macronyx from the Lower Lias Group (Hettangian-Sinemurian age)
• Rhamphocephalus from the Stonesfield Slate (Bathonian age)
• Ornithocheirids from the Cambridge Greensand (Cenomanian age) and the Chalk Group (Cenomanian-Turonian age) in southern and eastern England

One of the best-preserved specimens is Istiodactylus latidens from the Wealden Group (Lower Cretaceous). There are also a small number of specimens from the Gault Clay.

Although many specimens are from pyrite-bearing strata and are vulnerable to pyrite decay, the collection is maintained in very good condition.

The pterosaur collection is available for use in any legitimate research project. Recent work by external researchers includes computer modelling of biomechanical properties of pterosaur wing bones, and studies of how the group evolved.

Global coverage

Foreign material includes:

• Pteranodon and Nyctosaurus from the USA
• a skull of Anhanguera from Brazil, on display in the Museum
• Dorygnathus, Rhamphorhynchus and Pterodactylus from Germany

Casts

We have high-quality casts of other museums’ important specimens, including:

• Ctenochasma elegans 
• Gnathosaurus subulatus
• Pterodactylus antiquus
• Rhamphorhynchus muensteri
• Scaphognathus crassirostris
• Quetzalcoatlus sp
• Brasileodactylus araripensis
• Pterodaustro guinazui
• Dsungaripterus weii  
• Sordes pilosus

Countries of origin

British Isles, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Tanzania, Congo, Argentina, Brazil, USA and Australia.