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WWD: Rhamphorhynchus etchesi
🕑 Added 2023-05-02 06:57:26 +0000 UTCThis is the only taxa which did not change names or get changed to a different species, since it was one of the only species which actually lived at the right time. Although the species depicted here was not described until 2015.
The episode depicts Rhamphorhynchus as being like a Jurassic seagull or tern, although in reality this was quite a large pterosaur for its time period, with an adult wingspan of at least six feet across, possibly over three metres if a recent rhamphorhynchoid fossil indeed belongs to the genus. R. etchesi is known from a partial body fossil indicating a wingspan of about 1.7 metres, making it slightly smaller than the more well-known German species.
Rhamphorhynchus is depicted in the series as a specialized skim-feeder because it could not get its delicate wing membranes wet. However, both attributes have since been discredited; it seems more likely it dove underwater to snatch up aquatic prey and it was bio-mechanically infeasible for skimming in any known pterosaur species. Comparisons of its sclerotic rings with modern birds and other pterosaurs suggests that it was also nocturnal, while the contemporary Scaphognathus and Pterodactylus were diurnal, allowing them to niche partition.
Also, a young Rhamphorhynchus is shown attempting to extract beetle grubs from underneath tree bark, but struggling to do so because its beak is not suited for this sort of foraging. Rhamphorhynchus fossils are known from all life stages, showing their beak and teeth changed shape as they grew, with younger animals having a much more curved lower jaw tip, and the flaplings were much less flight-worthy and may have been insectivorous instead of piscivorous, meaning its beak actually could have been suited to such a task.
You might notice that both this and Thalassodraco have the same species name, and this is because both animals were excavated by the same person, Steve Etches, who uncovered a huge number of exquisite fossils from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation.
