Pteranodon

## General

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* JP Institute

**Pteranodon** is a large flying reptile. When it spread its wings, it could reach from the front to the back of a school bus. It did not have feathers, but rather had a basal type of integument along the same lineage from which feathers evolved, called pycnofibers. Pycnofibers were very hair-like in appearance and, like hair, were made of keratin.

Members of the Pterosaur order lived through much of the Mesozoic, some species of Pterosaurs with wingspans close to 11 meters (36 feet). Pteranodon males had a wing span of 5 meters (16 feet), while females had a wing span of 3 meters (10 feet), making the males one of the largest Pterosaurs found.

Pteranodon means "toothless wing", but in spite of this, it appears with teeth in one of the movies. It probably used the long crest on the back of its head to help it steer while flying. The movement is still some debate about whether these reptiles could actually fly or if they were primarily gliders, but the consensus seems to be that they could take off with little or no wind.

Their diet was fish and scavenged remains of dead marine animals. Quite a few Pteranodon skeletons have been found in Kansas in the central part of the U.S. This would have been the shore of a shallow sea when these creatures were alive, supporting the theory that they were fish eaters.

## Description

*Pteranodon* are large flying pterosaurs with pointed wingtips, covered in scaly bodies. They have crests at the back of their heads and long beaks for mouths. Their claws can easily grasp prey and hold them on branches similar to birds.

## Behavior

*Pteranodon* are social animals, with all encounters being with others of their kind.

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* Version 2
* Version 3

## Description

These *Pteranodon* are brown, with a white underbelly and a blue tint along the back. Their crests are flatter than the other two variants, with a slight upward curve as well. Their beaks are very birdlike, with the tips pointing towards each other. Their has been reported sightings of an animal with a wider crest and pyctnofibers, possibly the male of the speices, but this hasn't been proven.

## Behavior

While not much has been observed, they are known to perch on trees, something the other variants have not been seen doing.

## Description

These *Pteranodon* are huge, being nearly the size of the average *Quetzalcoatlus*. They have straight beaks erroneously filled with teeth. Females are brown, with lighter brown, nearly golden underbellies.     Their backs, parts of the wings, and beak are black, with red running down from the eyes. The males are black, with white on the wings and underbellies. The crest is similar in coloration to the females underbelly. The babies are pink, with pyctnofibers occasionally appearing along the back.
## Behavior

These *Pteranodon* are very aggressive, attacking most things that came in their aviary and a small town in Canada. They are known to be great caretakers of their young, but seem to either abandon them early on or stop caring when given freedom from their cage. They also give them live prey, likely to teach them how to kill as modern predators will do.

## Description

These *Pteranodons* are all similar in size to males of the prehistoric animals. They are grey, with most individuals having red wings and crests. Some individuals have blue crests, but it is unknown if this is sexual dimorphism or individual variation.

     This variant is the only one shown to have the one's the females had in prehistoric times, but the males have not been seen as of yet.
## Behavior

These *Pteranodon* are known to be relatively aggressive after being locked up, attacking multiple people near a large body of water. They are attracted towards splashing, probably because they associate this with their fish prey. Unlike the other variants, this *Pteranodon* is known to dive similar to many sea birds and possibly their prehistoric counterparts. They are known to nest on cliffs, where they will congregate similar to sea birds.
## History

### Extinction

A group of Pteranodon were seen near a group of Quetzalcoatlus in a lake. Meanwhile, other Pteranodon were seen nesting on a cliff with a river, one of them is seen hunting a fish in the Cretaceous Period.

### Jurassic Park

10 Pteranodons were recreated on Isla Sorna for Jurassic Park, but were abandoned with the six V1 *Pteranodon* being released from captivity, while the 4 V2 were left in captivity. The second variant were found in their aviary during the 2001 Incident, where they attacked the survivors and attempted to abduct Eric Kirby while badly injuring Billy Yoder with one individual crushed from having a metal walkway falling on it. This population was accidentally released from captivity where they then flew to Canada and attacked multiple towns before being "cleaned up" by Vic Hoskins' team of mercenaries. It is unknown what happened to the V1 *Pteranodon*, but were likely moved to Isla Nublar for Jurassic World.

### Jurassic World

V3 *Pteranodon* were the only known variant of *Pteranodon* on display, alongside smaller *Dimorphodon* in the Jurassic World Aviary. This population was released when the *Indominus rex* broke into the aviary and released them during the 2015 Incident , where they then flew out of the aviary and attacked the park's guests, with the ACU capturing most of the pterosaurs and some others beign killed from the falls and one from the park's resident *Mosasaurus*. With the park closed they were allowed to roam free over and around the island.

### Post Jurassic World

The *Pteranodon* populations have remained consistent throughout the three-year time span Isla Nublar was abandoned, but were later threatened when Mount Sibo threatened to erupt. Numerous *Pteranodon* were witnessed leaving the island, with at least three being captured by Ken Wheatly's mercenaries. It is unknown if any *Pteranodon* were sold, but the three were later seen flying around the coast of California and landing on the miniature Eiffle Tower in Las Vegas, while embracing their freedom of them being saved.