The Late Jurassic, Solnhofen Formation pterosaur Rhamphorhynchus muensteri is an exceptional flying reptile. We tend to overlook it a bit now - it's been known for almost two centuries, which is long enough to temper enthusiasm for any fossil species - but it's a remarkable animal for a number of reasons. Far from a typical example of the rhamphorhynchid lineage, it's the rhamphorhynchiest of all pterosaurs with a jaw full of large, conical teeth, elongate extensions to its jaw tips, exceptionally long and slender wings, delicate hindlimbs and walking digits, and a long, stiff tail famously adorned with a diamond or triangular shaped vane*. It also arguably has the best fossil record of any pterosaur. It's known from over 100 specimens, many of them being complete, articulated skeletons with at least some three-dimensionality, as well as providing excellent soft-tissues remains. Excepting embryos, we have complete growth series from tiny juveniles to chunky adults with 1.8 m wingspans, and its preservation is such that fine details of bones can be gleaned through careful mechanical or acid preparation. Its osteology is subsequently better known that any other pterosaur. The Cretaceous pterodactyloid Pteranodon might be known from more fossils (greater than 1400), but these flattened, disarticulated remains are nowhere close to the fossil quality of Rhamphorhynchus.
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