Muenster's Beak-Snout
  Rhamphorhynchus  muensteri
 
(Goldfuss, 1831 emend. Lydekker, 1888)
    The European Archipelago is home to many species of pterosaurs, and one of the most striking of these species is Rhamphorhynchus muensteri.  With its long, curved beak, barrel chest, enormous wings, and vaned tail, R. muensteri is a bizzare flier, indeed.  However, the beast's strangeness is mostly a result of superb adaptation to R. muensteri's fish-skimming lifestyle.

    R. muensteri is a skimmer.  That is, these creatures hunt by flying low over the water with beak wide open.  Supported by wide wings and guided by a vaned tail, and with lower jaw trailing in the water, the R. muensteri crisscross the calm waters.  Whenever, by luck or design, a fish makes contact with the sharp teeth of a pterosaur, the helpless swimmer is snatched out of its home and quickly swallowed.

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© Daniel Bensen 2001
This image modified by Adobe Photoshop.
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