Pteranodon (pronounced /tɨˈrænədɒn/; from Greek πτερ- "wing" and αν-οδων "toothless") is one of the largest pterosaur genera, with a wingspan of up to 9 m (30 ft). Pteranodons inhabit Dinotopia's canyons, and protect the the World Beneath.
History[]
Long ago, Pteranodons lived in The World Beneath once they left the stayed down below the great canyons to guard the entrance. When Gideon Altaire founded Canyon City and formed the Skybax cor with the Quetzalcoatlus several attempts to communicate with the Pteranodon were made but fail thus the two species split.
Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time[]
In 1862-63, the Explorer Arthur Denison along with his son William, and companions Bix, Lee Crabb and Oriana explored the World Beneath and exist out the canyons below Canyon City where they encountered a pteranodon but escaped.
In 2002, David Scott a New Comer to Dinotopia was chosen to undergo Skybax training in Canyon City where he meets Romana Denison (William's daughter) and trained under Squadron Leader Oonu. Because he had a fear of heights he didn't do well but Oonu wasn't going to give up on him so he orders David to spend the night in a Skybax nest it was there he meet Freefall ( an albino Pteranodon who has been rejected by the flock). The next morning when no Skybax appeared for David Freefall choose him as his rider making David the first man to ride a wild Pteranodon like Gideon Altaire before him.
Description[]
Unlike other pterosaurs such as Dimorphodon, Pteranodons have toothless beaks, like modern birds.
Pteranodons are reptiles, but not dinosaurs. By definition, all dinosaurs are diapsid reptiles with an upright stance, and consist of the group containing saurischians and ornithischians. While the advanced pterodactyloid pterosaurs (like Pteranodon) have a semi-upright stance, it evolved independently of the upright stance in dinosaurs, and pterosaurs lacked the distinctive adaptations in the hip associated with the dinosaurian posture. However, dinosaurs and pterosaurs may be closely related.