Mark Witton's restoration of a Rhamphorhynchus.
The rhamphorhynchus are a species of pterosaur which inhabits Squawk Major and surrounding worlds. Some of this species were present during Shazz's Meeting of the Flock, which was interrupted by Grandum.
Real Rhamphorhynchus were small, common long-tailed pterosaurs which lived in the Jurassic period, reaching up to about 2 metres in wingspan. Its tail ended in a diamond-shaped vane which may have been used to help the pterosaur steer. When first discovered in 1825, it was mistaken for a bird before being correctly identified as a pterosaur. Most early pterosaur discoveries were lumped together as Pterodactylus until they were separated later.
Pterosaurs themselves are often called “pterodactyls” when the true pterodactyls are one of two groups - the short-tailed pterodactyloids like Gnathosaurus and Nyctosaurus are one, and the more primitive rhamphorhynchoids, such as Dimorphodon, Sordes, and Rhamphorhynchus itself, are the other. Fossils with traits of both like Ludodactylus and Darwinopterus show that the pterodactyls have rhamphorhynch ancestors.
The discovery of young Rhamphorhynchus suggests that even baby pterosaurs were completely capable of flight when they hatched and, unlike birds which need the protection of their parents until they can fly, required little to no parental care. They were agile hunters and divers, using their needle-like, intermeshing teeth to catch and eat fish and invertebrates. Fossils of this animal have been found in the United Kingdom, Tanzania, Portugal, Germany, and Spain. Its name means "beak snout".