Pteranodon

Pteranodon is a species of that lived in the Late Cretaceous Period, between 88-81 million years ago. It has appeared in several Disney films, most notably the 1940 animated feature Fantasia and the 2000 animated feature Dinosaur. Although not a dinosaur itself, it is often shown in association with them.
==Background==
===Real life===
Pteranodon (meaning "toothless wing") is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with P. longiceps having a wingspan of over 6 meters (20 feet). They lived during the late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Alabama. More fossil specimens of Pteranodon have been found than any other pterosaur, with about 1,200 specimens known to science, many of them well preserved with nearly complete skulls and articulated skeletons. It was an important part of the animal community in the Western Interior Seaway.
Pteranodon is the most famous pterosaur, frequently featured in dinosaur media and strongly associated with dinosaurs by the general public. While not dinosaurs, pterosaurs, such as Pteranodon, form a clade closely related to dinosaurs, as both fall within the clade .
==Appearances==
===Fantasia===
A bunch of Pteranodon appear in The Rite of Spring segment. They are seen flying overhead trying to catch prey in the ocean. Two of them were fighting over a squid, and one, with a fish in its beak, got dragged into the water by a Tylosaurus, causing it to drown. They are never seen again for the remainder of the segment, but presumably went extinct in the mass extinction with the dinosaurs.
===Dinosaur===
One Pteranodon is seen picking up Aladar's egg from the water in its beak and flying towards Lemur Island to feed its children, only to get stopped by two birds, causing it to drop the egg into the island. The species shown in this movie is , which some scientists think is a different creature called a Geosternbergia, a close relative of the Pteranodon.
===The Legend of Tarzan===
In "The Hidden World", a flock of Pteranodon were seen flying in Pellucidar.
===Gravity Falls===
In the episode "Land Before Swine", a Pterodactyl is present.
===Miles from Tomorrowland===
In the episode "Dino World", a Pteranodon appears alongside an Ankylosaurus. They are discovered to exist on another planet among many other Earth dinosaurs. At the episode's climax, three Pteranodon chase the Callistos away after Loretta wakes up the Ankylosaurus.
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*Pterosaurs, like the Pteranodon and Pterodactyl, are technically not dinosaurs, but belong to a separate group of flying reptiles.
*In the game Disney's Dinosaur, the Pteranodon is named Flia.
==External links==
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