Nyctosaurus

Nyctosaurus (meaning "night lizard" or "bat lizard") is a genus of nyctosaurid pterosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period. It lived in what is now the Niobrara Formation of the mid-western United States, which, during the time it was alive, was covered in an extensive shallow sea. Some remains belonging to a possible Nyctosaurus species called N. lamegoi have been found in Brazil, making Nyctosaurus more diverse. The genus Nyctosaurus has had numerous species referred to it, though how many of these may actually be valid requires further study. At least one species possessed an extraordinarily large antler-like cranial crest.

It has been suggested that it would have flown similar to modern-day soaring birds such as albatrosses, which consisted of flying very long distances and rarely flapping. The species N. gracilis and N. nanus have previously been considered as species of the closely related Pteranodon, back then known as P. gracilis and P. nanus, due to their similarities.

Portrayal in the series
Nyctosaurus were social animals, living in flocks. They were piscivorous, meaning that they primarily ate fish. They would hunt by skimming their lower jaw in the water until they felt something. Then, they would then clamp their jaws shut. However, whilst feeding, Nyctosaurus would be at risk of predators like Deinosuchus. (PP: Supercroc)

Nyctosaurus had a unique head crest. It was L-shaped and was used primarily for display, like the tail feathers of a peacock.

T-Rex Returns
A flock of 5 Nyctosaurus was briefly seen flying over Nigel as he was exploring a river bank near a waterfall.

Supercroc
Nigel observed a flock of Nyctosaurus from the ground. Shortly afterwards, he joined them in the air by using a microlight. Nigel watched as an individual caught a fish. He then watched in awe as the same Nyctosaurus was eaten by a Deinosuchus, which plucked it out of the skies.

Trivia

 * 2 Nyctosaurus appeared in the park in the opening titles even though Nigel never brought one back to the park in the series.
 * This could imply that after his adventure, Nigel went back and rescued 2 Nyctosaurus. This could also just have been a non-canonical way to put a pterosaur with the title in order to enhance the "prehistoric" feel.
 * Nyctosaurus is the only creature to appear in multiple time travel expeditions

Errors

 * In real life, Nyctosaurus went extinct 19 million years before the KT Extinction event.
 * They also became extinct 2 million years before the events of Supercroc, about 84 million years ago.
 * A suitable replacement for them in both the above mentioned episode and T-Rex Returns would have been Pteranodon.
 * Nyctosaurus are much bulkier than they were portrayed in the series, due to the airs sacks it possessed all over the body.
 * Nyctosaurus lacked pycnofibers in the series while in real life, it would have had a coat of pycnofibers covering its body.
 * The bottom point of the crest would have been equally as long as the top part of the crest.
 * The non-extended fingers on the wing should be too small to see.
 * There is no longer good evidence to support the idea that Nyctosaurus, and pterosaurs in general, skim fed.