SMALL CRETACEOUS PTEROSAURS

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

Allan Smith wrote...

> Can anyone tell me what the smallest Cretaceous pterosaur was?
> How close to the end of the Jurassic did the small pterosaurs like P.
> kochi and P. antiquus live. I am trying to make a case for small
> pterosaurs roosting on the backs of Creataceous dinos for a diorama
> that I am working on.

Not quite sure I agree with what you are doing: coming up with a 
reconstructed scenario and then trying to find the evidence for it (heavy 
shades of WWD). It's also a very unlikely idea. Nevertheless... Lower 
Cretaceous China has the diminutive pterosaurs _Dendrorhynchoides_ 
(which appears to be an anurognathid not unlike _Anurognathus_) and 
_Eosipteras_ (which might be a ctenochasmatoid). Both would have 
had wingspans of around 60 cm or less and would be pretty much the 
same size as 'typical' small Jurassic pterosaurs like _Pterodactylus_.

"We all have a dark side - we all wanna shine so bright" - Jedi Wannabe

DARREN NAISH 
PALAEOBIOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP
School of Earth, Environmental & Physical Sciences
UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH
Burnaby Building
Burnaby Road                           email: darren.naish@port.ac.uk
Portsmouth UK                          tel: 01703 446718
P01 3QL