Pteranodon longiceps Mug

At up to 20 feet Pteranodon had one of the largest wingspans of any flying animal in the fossil record. From around 86 to 84.5 million years ago it flew along the coastal shores of an Cretaceous seaway that once split the North American continent. The first specimens were discovered in 1870 by Othniel Charles Marsh in the chalk deposits of Western Kansas. Marsh initially thought his discovery was a part of the Pterodactylus genus of pterosaurs found in Europe, over time with more complete finds he realized that it was indeed part of a new genus separate from those previously found, but the common name stuck for most people and the name Pterodactyl is still used today in movies, poorly informed books and other media.