Pterosaur Skeleton, Solnhofen Limestone

Soaring Elegance from the Jurassic Skies

This extraordinary Rhamphorhynchus specimen captures the poetic essence of prehistoric flight. With its elegant silhouette—gracefully arched neck, elongated tail, and wings outstretched as if caught mid-glide—it evokes a sense of motion and vitality rarely preserved in stone. The impeccable preservation of its distinctive tail vane, a rudder-like structure key to aerial maneuvering, offers both aesthetic beauty and scientific insight into early flight mechanics.

What truly sets this fossil apart is its state of preservation: not only are the skeletal elements nearly complete, but fine anatomical features, including teeth embedded in the matrix, remain strikingly intact. Even subtle textural details are visible across the delicate bones and surrounding limestone, peppered with impressions from the ancient lagoon floor.

This large slab of fine-grained Solnhofen limestone, from the famed Late Jurassic deposits of southern Germany, presents a rare window into a once-vibrant lagoon ecosystem along the northern edge of the Tethys Sea. These tranquil, oxygen-poor waters fostered a level of fossilization that borders on miraculous—preserving an array of lifeforms, from marine creatures to the gliding pterosaurs and the iconic Archaeopteryx.

A fossil of this caliber doesn’t merely rest in a collection—it elevates it. Whether destined for a world-class museum or the discerning eye of a private collector, this piece offers a powerful blend of visual drama and paleontological significance. Though not technically a dinosaur, Rhamphorhynchus belongs to the avemetatarsalians—a lineage that includes both dinosaurs and modern birds—making it a critical chapter in the story of vertebrate flight.

Although pterosaurs are not technically dinosaurs, they belong to a closely related group of reptiles known as avemetatarsalians, which includes dinosaurs and modern birds.

TAXONOMY

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Pterosauria
Family: Rhamphorhynchidae
Genus: Rhamphorhynchus
Species: R. muensteri

GEOLOGICAL CONTEXT

Formation: Solnhofen Limestone
Lithostratigraphic Layer: White Jura, Malm
Location: Mühlheim, Germany
Age: Upper Jurassic (161 to 150 million years ago)

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Dimensions: 33.5 x 26.4 x 1.6 in (85 x 67 x 4 cm)
Weight: 63 lbs (28.6 kg)

PROVENANCE

Private German collection, legally designated for export and trade. This specimen is ethically sourced and fully compliant with international regulations, ensuring responsible acquisition and ownership.