In Popular Culture
Ornithocheirus was the subject of an entire episode of the award-winning BBC television program Walking with Dinosaurs. In Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History, a companion book to the series, it was claimed that several large bone fragments from the Santana Formation of Brazil indicated that Ornithocheirus may have had a wingspan reaching almost 12 metres and a weight of a hundred kilogrammes, making it one of the largest known pterosaurs. However, the largest definite Ornithocheirus specimens known measure 6 metres in wingspan. The specimens which the producers of the program used to justify such a large size estimate are currently undescribed, and are being studied by Dave Martill and Heinz Peter Bredow. Bredow stated that he does not believe this highest estimate is likely, and that the producers likely chose the highest possible estimate because it was more "spectacular."
Read more about this topic: Ornithocheirus
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