skull of a large Jurassic pterodactyl: Petrodactyle wellnhoferi
With a wingspan of just over two metres, Petrodactyle was a large pterosaur, at least until its time in the late Jurassic. This hitherto unique fossil is nicknamed “Elvis” because of the protruding head crest. During its lifetime, this bony blade was only the base of a much larger keratin plate, with which the male probably wanted to prove how fit it was despite this conspicuous feature and the trouble it had with crosswinds (handicap principle). Perhaps this particular specimen was no longer so fit - palaeontology lives on mortality.
unpublished version of drawing in: Hone, D.W., Lauer, R., Lauer, B., & Spindler, F. (2023): Petrodactyle wellnhoferi gen. et sp. nov.: A new and large ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic of Germany. Palaeontologia Electronica, 26(2): a25.
soft pencil on Coquille paper, outlines digital
