This large pterosaur, with a wingspan of up to 20 feet was found by G. F. Sternberg in 1952 in the lower chalk deposits of Graham County, Kansas. It could weigh up to 45 pounds. Living in the late cretaceous, this majestic creature was really no dinosaur at all but a Flying Reptile. Through the years, Pteranodons have gone through many misnomers until a recent study re-categorized the group into two sets: large and small. Within the large group, sexual dimorphism was ever present within the crests, relative sizes, and hip bones of the animals. Those with diminutive crests, wide set hips and of a smaller size were females, while the males were larger with narrow hips and large crests, believed to be used for mating displays. The Male of the species had a large flat crest that raised up from its skull. This crest would have been brightly colored during the mating season to attract a mate. The female’s crest was extremely muted, showing only a small bump on her head. She also had wide set hips to aid in the laying of eggs. Extremely social creatures, P. sternbergi would have enjoyed living its life in large flocks near a food source, such as a shore among rocky outcroppings.
This species seems to only live on Isla Sorna. Roland's Dinosaur guide, the trailer's screensaver, and in several drawings and models made for the movie we can see photo evidence of it but it is never seen alive on film in any scene. It has also been theorized that this species is a males-only species that bred with the Pteranodon longiceps species, but there is no confirming evidence for this. What is known is that P. sternbergi was another one of InGen’s attempts to create other flying reptiles, perhaps in an attempt to set the record straight. Even today there is still great confusion over the classification of many of these graceful creatures.
