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SOM#128, Don Everhart, The Fossil Collection, Pteranodon, 1994
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From the collection of John Birks
Number issued: 200 Bronze
PTERANODON
tayr - AN - o - don
Late Cretaceous, North America
Not really a dinosaur, Pteranodon was a flying prehistoric reptile. With a wingspan of about 23 feet, it certainly must have been an impressive sight as it soared above rocky cliffs 70 to 115 million years ago. Many fossils of those flying reptiles have been found within the USA where, at the time they lived, was a vast inland sea. There has been quite a lot of speculation about how the animal moved around on land, or even whether it did. Its skeletal structure does not seem well suited for walking, although various models show them on hind legs while others show them using the wings in a kind of four-point stance. Some paleontologists have even suggested that they hung upside down in trees like bats do today.
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