Laopteryx Laopteryx Laopteryx is the name assigned to a pterosaur (flying reptile) from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Wyoming, United States; it was originally thought to be a bird. The genus was named in 1881 by Othniel Charles Marsh. The generic name is derived from Greek "laas", "stone", and "pteryx", "wing". The full species name given by Marsh was "Laopteryx priscum"; the specific name meaning "of venerable age" in Latin. However, Marsh incorrectly used the neuter form, while "pteryx" is feminine in Greek. (See grammatical gender.) This was in the 19th century emended to an, also incorrect, masculine "priscus" and
Makuleke Gorge and in these can be found fragments of bone and probably wood representing both holdovers from the Permian–Triassic extinction event like glossopetrids (a type of tree) and dicynodonts (a form of mammal-like reptile), and new forms that would dominate the Mesozoic, including modern conifers, cycads and of course dinosaurs, such as "Euskelosaurus". Most of the sandstones in the Pafuri region however probably represent the great age of dinosaurs – the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. During the early parts of the Jurassic, which lasted from approximately 210 million years ago until about 144 million years ago, the area was almost