Koller - Out of This World Tuesday, 28 June 2022, 4pm

The two species: Aspidorhynchus is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Fossils have been found in Europe and Antarctica. Aspidorhynchus was a slender, fast-swimming fish, 60 centimetres (2.0 ft) long, with tooth-lined, elongated jaws. It also had heavy scales and a symmetrical tail. The upper jaw was longer than the lower jaw, ending in a toothless spike. Although it would have looked superficially similar to the present day gars, it was not related to them, belonging to the Aspidorhynchiformes, an extinct group of fish noted for their elongated rostrums. Aspidorhynchiformes are generally considered early relatives of teleosts. Rhamphorhynchus is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs in the Jurassic period. Less specialized than contemporary, short-tailed ptero- dactyloid pterosaurs such as Pterodactylus, it had a long tail, stiffened with ligaments, which ended in a characteristic soft-tissue tail vane. The mouth of Rhamphorhynchus housed needle-like teeth, which were angled forward, with a curved, sharp, beak-like tip lacking teeth, indicating a diet mainly of fish; indeed, fish and cephalopod remains are frequently found in Rhamphorhynchus abdominal cont- ents, as well as in their coprolites. | 69