Nyctosaurus

Nyctosaurus
Temporal range: Santonian–Campanian[1]
Fossil specimen (CM 11422) of Nyctosaurus gracilis in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: †Pterosauria
Suborder: †Pterodactyloidea
Family: †Nyctosauridae
Genus: †Nyctosaurus
Marsh, 1876
Type species
†Nyctosaurus gracilis
Marsh, 1876
Species
  • †N. gracilis
    (Marsh, 1876)
  • †N. nanus
    (Marsh, 1881)
  • †"N." lamegoi
    Price, 1953
Synonyms
Genus synonymy
  • Pteranodon (Nyctosaurus)
    (Marsh, 1876)
  • Nyctodactylus
    Marsh, 1881
Synonyms of N. gracilis
  • Pteranodon gracilis
    Marsh, 1876
  • Pteranodon (Nyctosaurus) gracilis
    (Marsh, 1876)
  • Nyctodactylus gracilis
    (Marsh, 1876)
  • Nyctosaurus leptodactylus
    Williston, 1903
  • Pteranodon bonneri
    Miller, 1972
  • Pteranodon (Nyctosaurus) bonneri
    (Miller, 1972)
  • Nyctosaurus bonneri
    (Miller, 1972)
Synonyms of N. nanus
  • Pteranodon nanus
    Marsh, 1881

Nyctosaurus (meaning "night lizard" or "bat lizard") is a genus of nyctosaurid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of what is now the Niobrara Formation of the mid-western United States, which, during the time Nyctosaurus was alive, was covered in an extensive shallow sea. Some remains belonging to a possible Nyctosaurus species called "N." lamegoi have been found in Brazil, though it likely belongs to a different genus Simurghia. The genus Nyctosaurus has had numerous species referred to it, though how many of these may actually be valid requires further study. At least one species possessed an extraordinarily large antler-like cranial crest.[2]

Nyctosaurus was a mid-sized pterosaur that lived along the shores of the Niobrara Formation of the United States, which back then was within a large inland sea called the Western Interior Seaway. It has been suggested that it would have flown similar to modern-day soaring birds such as albatrosses, which consisted of flying very long distances and rarely flapping.[3] The species N. gracilis and N. nanus have previously been considered as species of the closely related Pteranodon, back then known as P. gracilis and P. nanus, due to their similarities.

  1. ^ Hone, David; Witton, Mark; Martill, David (2018). New Perspectives on Pterosaur Paleobiology. London: The Geological Society. p. 213. ISBN 978-1-78620-317-5.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference benett2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference xingetal2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).