page_title: Timeline of pterosaur research
section_title: 2010s
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of pterosaur research / 21st century / 2010s
caption_attribution_description: English: Restoration of various pterosaur specimens assigned to the genus Pteranodon, illustrating variation in cranial anatomy. Unpreserved portions of skulls and jaws depicted in gray. Classification/identification after Kellner, 2010. Sources: Bennett, S.C. (1992). "Sexual dimorphism of Pteranodon and other pterosaurs, with comments on cranial crests". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 12 (4): 422–434. Bennett, S.C. (1994). "Taxonomy and systematics of the Late Cretaceous pterosaur Pteranodon (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloida)". Occasional Papers of the Natural History Museum, University of Kansas 169: 1–70. Kellner, A.W.A. (2010). "Comments on the Pteranodontidae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) with the description of two new species". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 82 (4): 1063-1084.
context_page_description: This timeline of pterosaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, and taxonomic revisions of pterosaurs, the famed flying reptiles of the Mesozoic era. Although pterosaurs went extinct millions of years before humans evolved, humans have coexisted with pterosaur fossils for millennia. Before the development of paleontology as a formal science, these remains would have been interpreted through a mythological lens. Myths about thunderbirds told by the Native Americans of the modern western United States may have been influenced by observations of Pteranodon fossils. These thunderbirds were said to have warred with water monsters, which agrees well with the co-occurrence of Pteranodon and the ancient marine reptiles of the seaway over which it flew.
  The formal study of pterosaurs began in the late 18th century when naturalist Cosimo Alessandro Collini of Mannheim, Germany published a description of an unusual animal with long arms, each bearing an elongated finger.
context_section_description: 2010
  Myers described the new genus and species Aetodactylus halli.
  Ibrahim and others described the new genus and species Alanqa saharica.
  Lü and Fucha described the new genus and species Archaeoistiodactylus linglongtaensis.
  Lü and others described the new genus and species Darwinopterus modularis. According to David Hone, D. modularis was the most the single most influential pterosaur species on science's understanding of pterosaur evolution. The body of Darwinopterus resembled the more primitive long-tailed "rhamphorynchoids", while its skull resembled those of the more advanced short-tailed pterodactyloids. These traits establish the species as an important transitional form, documenting one of the most important phases of pterosaur evolution. In this paper they also attempted to reconstruct the evolutionary history of pterosaurs.
  Wang and others described the new genus and species D. linglongtaensis.
  Kellner described the new genus and species Dawndraco kanzai.
  Bonaparte, Schultz, and Soares described the new genus and species Faxinalipterus minima. This species may represent the earliest known pterosaur.
  Lü, Fucha, and Chen described the new genus and species Fenghuangopterus lii.
  Kellner described the new species Geosternbergia maiseyi.
  Wang and others described the new genus and species Kunpengopterus sinensis. They also formally defined the new family Wukongopteridae. This taxon is considered one of the most important higher-order pterosaur taxa to be described in recent times due to its intermediate nature between the "rhamphorhynchoids" and pterodactyloids.
  Vidarte and Calvo described the new genus and species Prejanopterus curvirostra.
  Andres, Clark, and Xing described the new genus and species Sericipterus wucaiwanensis.
  Lü described the new genus and species Zhenyuanopterus longirostris.
  Tischlinger published a study on pterosaur wing membranes. This study utilized UV light to help reveal greater detail in the specimen than is visible to the unaided eye.
  Steel reported the presence of a possible wukongopterid in Middle Jurassic rocks in the United Kingdom.
  Nesbitt and Hone found primitive pterosaurs to have a mandibular fenestra, a trait linking them to the archosaurs. They also observed that many of the traits suggested by Bennett to be at odds with archosaurian origins were found in many groups and therefore not evidence for an interpretation of pterosaurs and a distinct non-archosaurian lineage.
  Vidovic published a study on the histology of pterosaur teeth.
  Henderson published estimates of the body mass of various pterosaurs.
  Witton and Habib noted that pterosaurs' reliance on launching with the wings from all fours to take flight limited their maximum body size and "had important implications for their ecology".
  Tutken and Hone attempted to ascertain the diet of pterosaurs by studying the isotopic composition of their bones and teeth.
  This year the Flugsaurier conference was held in Beijing.
  The Royal Society put on an exhibition related to pterosaurs as part of its 200th anniversary celebration.
  Documentary dedicated to pterosaurs titled Flying Monsters was released. This film would go on to win the BAFTA Award.
  2011
  Frey, Meyer, and Tischlinger described the new genus Aurorazhdarcho.
  Kellner, Rodrigues, and Costa described the new genus and species Aussiedraco molnari.
  Elgin and Frey described the new genus and species Barbosania gracilirostris.
  Lü and others described the new genus and species Darwinopterus robustodens.
  Lü and Bo described the new genus and species Jianchangopterus zhaoianus.
  Sullivan and Fowler described the new genus and species Navajodactylus boerei.
  Jiang and Wang described the new genus and species Pterofiltrus qiui.
  Martill described the new genus and species Unwindia trigonus.
  Lu and others reported the discovery of a Darwinopterus egg associated with its mother. This was the fourth known discovery of a pterosaur egg.
  O'Connor and others reported the discovery of pterosaur fossils in Kenya.
  Nesbitt published a thorough cladistic analysis of the archosaurs, finding pterosaurs n
caption: Life restoration of Dawndraco
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