Rhamphorhynchus

Rhamphorhynchus is an extinct genus of long-tailed pterosaurs from the Late Jurassic. Its long, stiffened tail ended in a diamond-shaped vane.

Pterosaur: An extinct group of flying reptiles with wings formed by a membrane supported mainly by an elongated fourth finger. Rhamphorhynchus is one genus within this group of flying reptiles.
Solnhofen Limestone: A Late Jurassic limestone formation in Bavaria, Germany, famous for exceptionally preserved fossils. Many well-preserved Rhamphorhynchus fossils come from this formation.
Pterosaur flight: Powered flight in pterosaurs, achieved with membrane wings supported by elongated forelimb bones and fingers. It describes the locomotion that Rhamphorhynchus's wing anatomy enabled.
Pterosaur classification: The scientific organization of pterosaurs into groups based on anatomical traits and evolutionary relationships. Rhamphorhynchus has served as a reference point in classifying long-tailed pterosaurs.
Pterosaur wing: A flight membrane in pterosaurs, supported chiefly by the elongated fourth finger and attached to the body and hindlimbs. Its wing structure powered flight in Rhamphorhynchus.
Jurassic Coast: A coastal region in southern England containing fossil-bearing rocks from the Jurassic Period. It offers a contrasting Jurassic fossil locality outside Rhamphorhynchus's best-known Bavarian deposits.
Pterosaur feeding: The range of feeding strategies used by pterosaurs, including prey capture, scavenging, and plant consumption. Its teeth and jaw shape inform hypotheses about how Rhamphorhynchus caught prey.
Georg August Goldfuss: A German naturalist who described and named Rhamphorhynchus in the nineteenth century. Goldfuss established the genus in his work on the Solnhofen fossil.
Pterosaur tail vane: A membrane at the end of the tail in some pterosaurs, often supported by elongated tail bones. The genus's long tail ended in a distinctive diamond-shaped vane.
Pterodactylus: A genus of short-tailed pterosaurs known from Late Jurassic fossils in the Solnhofen region. It lived in the same fossil region and is often compared with Rhamphorhynchus.

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DimorphodonCompared with: Its later age and different proportions offer a comparison with the much earlier Dimorphodon.