The pterosaur collection
Rhamphosuchus crassidens
The Museum pterosaur collection comprises approximately 1000 specimens, from isolated incomplete bones to articulated skeletons on slabs. British pterosaurs are very well represented, particularly Dimorphodon macronyx from the Lower Lias (Hettangian-Sinemurian), Rhamphocephalus from the Stonesfield "Slate" (Bathonian) and ornithocheirids from the Cambridge Greensand (Cenomanian) and the Chalk (Cenomanian-Turonian), due to historic quarrying and collecting in these areas.
One of the best preserved specimens is the Wealden (Lower Cretaceous) Istiodactylus latidens. There are a small number of specimens from the Gault Clay. Foreign material includes Pteranodon and Nyctosaurus from the USA, a skull of Anhanguera from Brazil (on display) and Dorygnathus and Pterodactylus from Germany.
High quality casts are held of several important specimens housed in other museums, including Ctenochasma gracile, Gnathosaurus subulatus, Quetzalcoatlus sp, Brasileodactylus araripensis, Pterodaustro guinazui and Dsungaripterus weii. Considering that many specimens are from pyrite-bearing strata, the pterosaur collection is generally in very good condition.
Geological and geographic ranges
The pterosaur collection does not include any material from the Triassic. The Jurassic and Cretaceous of the UK, Europe, North and South America, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Africa and China are represented, but sometimes only by casts of specimens.
Visitor facilities
Visitors to the pterosaur collection may use benches adjacent to the collection, which are equipped with lamps and a long-arm microscope. The reptile library on the ground floor is also available for visitors to use, but books and reprints must be returned after use.