Pterosaurs: The Field Guide

We did it! The Sternberg Museum of Natural History is staying open. Fort Hays State called off the December closure after people who love the place raised the money in less than a month. There's still matching money to unlock, so if you can, chip in. fossi.ls/sternberg-fg

A first look inside #Paleostream 3, the new book from Joschua Knüppe, who painted some of the pterosaurs in our Field Guide. It opens on Kickstarter November 2. fossi.ls/ps3

Joschua Knüppe painted several of the pterosaurs in the Field Guide. His own book, #Paleostream 3, goes to Kickstarter on Monday, November 2. Follow the pre-launch page and you'll know the moment it's live. https://fossi.ls/ps3

Every Field Guide tier has its own pterosaur, now complete at six. Meet the two newest. Dimorphodon, the maverick, fronts the Signed Edition. Tupandactylus, the showstopper, fronts the Collector's Set. Designed by Arina Tereschenko. No AI. Both tiers still open for late pledges. fossi.ls/ks

Funded. Thank you to everyone who backed Pterosaurs: The Field Guide. Closed at $61,525 from 965 backers, more than five times our goal. The book is going to print. Books ship in January.

$60,000 unlocked. Akharhynchus martilli joins the field guide, a toothed pterosaur from the Kem Kem of Morocco, the mid-Cretaceous river system best known for Spinosaurus. Every animal painted by hand. Pledges close this morning at 9:59 AM Eastern. fossi.ls/ks

$58,000 unlocked. Darwinopterus camposi joins the field guide, a newly named transitional pterosaur from Jurassic China. Every animal painted by hand. Pledges close this morning at 9:59 AM Eastern. fossi.ls/ks

A few hours left. Pterosaurs: The Field Guide closes this morning at 9:59 AM Eastern. Past $60,000, more than five times our goal. No AI anywhere in it. If you've been waiting, this is it. fossi.ls/ks

$56,000 unlocked. Tsogtopteryx mongoliensis joins the book, the smallest azhdarchid ever named, a 5-to-6-foot wingspan from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. Closes Monday, 9:59 AM Eastern. fossi.ls/ks #Pterosaurs #Paleontology

$36,000 unlocked. Garudapterus buffetauti joins the book, painted by Julio Lacerda. The first pterosaur ever named from Southeast Asia, from the Early Cretaceous of Thailand. Closes Monday, 9:59 AM Eastern. fossi.ls/ks #Pterosaurs #Paleoart

The final day. Pledges close tomorrow, Monday, 9:59 AM Eastern. Past $54,000 and more than four times funded, with species still unlocking. Last chance to back the complete illustrated guide to pterosaurs. fossi.ls/ks #Pterosaurs #Paleontology

$54,000. Gobiazhdarcho joins the book, a new azhdarchid from the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. Last day: closes Monday, 9:59 AM Eastern, past four times funded. fossi.ls/ks #Pterosaurs #Paleontology

$52,000. Spot-gloss on the cover is unlocked, a raised gloss on the title and art over the soft-touch matte. On every printed copy. Closes Monday, 9:59 AM Eastern. fossi.ls/ks #Pterosaurs #Paleontology

48 hours left. Pterosaurs: The Field Guide closes Monday, 9:59 AM Eastern. Past $51,000 and climbing. The complete illustrated guide to pterosaurs. fossi.ls/ks #Pterosaurs #Paleontology

$50,000 unlocked: Galgadraco, the first pterosaur ever named from Brazil's Bauru Group, a Late Cretaceous azhdarchid. It joins the book as a full page with original art. Closes Monday. fossi.ls/ks #Pterosaurs #Paleontology

$48,000 unlocked: Infernodrakon, a newly named azhdarchid from the Hell Creek of Montana with an estimated 10-to-13-foot wingspan. Joins the book as a full page with original art. Four days left. fossi.ls/ks #Pterosaurs #Paleontology

$46,000 unlocked: a soft-touch matte cover on every printed copy of the book, hardcover and softcover. Next at $48,000: Infernodrakon, a new azhdarchid from the Hell Creek of Montana. Five days left. fossi.ls/ks #Pterosaurs #Paleontology

That's a wrap on the signed edition. All 150 numbered, hand-signed copies of Pterosaurs: The Field Guide are claimed. If you still want your book signed by Pete, the new Signed Edition has you covered. fossi.ls/ks

$44,000. Nipponopterus is unlocked, Japan's first named pterosaur, and it joins the book as a new full page with original art. Every $2,000 adds another newly described species. fossi.ls/ks

More than 250 pterosaurs. Nearly 400 full color pages. Original paleoart for every single one. Pterosaurs: The Field Guide is the first complete guide to every known pterosaur, and it's on Kickstarter now. Closes August 31. fossi.ls/ks

$42,000. Every copy of the book now gets a ribbon marker bound in. Next up at $44,000 is Nipponopterus, Japan's first named pterosaur. fossi.ls/ks

The finished Inabtanin alarabia, by Nathan E. Rogers. Named in 2024 from Jordan, a 17 foot wingspan. CT scans of its arm bone show the crisscrossed struts of a flapping flier, not a soarer like its giant neighbor Arambourgiania. fossi.ls/ks Art by @nathanerogers.bsky.social

Only 13 of the deluxe signed hardcovers are left. It is the only signed tier, capped at 150, and once they are gone that is it. fossi.ls/ks

$40,000. Saratovia glickmani is going into the book, one of the last toothed pterosaurs. Next up at $42,000, a ribbon marker in every copy. fossi.ls/ks

The finished Makrodactylus oligodontus, by Joschua Knüppe. From the Mörnsheim limestone of Bavaria, the smallest adult non-pterodactyloid monofenestratan known at a 2 foot wingspan. Its name means few-toothed, seven upper and six lower teeth per side. fossi.ls/ks Art by @joschuaknuppe.bsky.social

The finished Laueropterus vitriolus, by Joschua Knüppe. Named this year from the Mörnsheim limestone of Germany, about 3 feet across, one of the larger early monofenestratans. Its name means sulfuric acid, for the etched-looking bone pitting. fossi.ls/ks Art by @joschuaknuppe.bsky.social

The finished Torukjara bandeirae, by Vitor Silva. Named in 2024 from a Brazilian bonebed where tapejarids died by the hundreds. Its bones sat under another species until Kamila Bandeira spotted two were mixed. She was right, and it is named for her. fossi.ls/ks

The AMA is live! Pete Buchholz, the author of Pterosaurs: The Field Guide, is answering your pterosaur questions right now. Ask him anything, the science, the art and really, anything else. Comment on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, or our Kickstarter page. fossi.ls/ks

Tomorrow. Pete Buchholz, the author of Pterosaurs: The Field Guide, is doing an AMA. Ask him anything, the science, the art and really, anything else. Wednesday, August 19 at 10am Eastern, on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and our Kickstarter page. fossi.ls/ks

Tomorrow. Pete Buchholz, who wrote the book, is doing an AMA. Bring your pterosaur questions, the weirder the better. Wednesday, August 19 at 10am Eastern, on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and our Kickstarter page. fossi.ls/ks

The finished Eotephradactylus mcintireae, by Lucas Lima. The oldest pterosaur named from North America, described in 2025 from a jaw found in Arizona, about 209 million years old. Roughly the size of a small seagull. fossi.ls/ks

$38,000. Spathagnathus roeperi is going into the book, the oldest known gnathosaurine. Next up at $40,000 is Saratovia. fossi.ls/ks

The finished Skiphosoura bavarica, by Karolina Twardosz. Found 2015, described 2024, a transitional form between Darwinopterus-type monofenestratans and true pterodactyloids. It missed our manuscript, so the guide is how it gets in. fossi.ls/ks Art by @twarda.bsky.social

Three times funded. 583 backers, 13 days to go, and every stretch goal we launched with is already unlocked. Next up at $38,000 is Spathagnathus, the oldest gnathosaurine known. fossi.ls/ks

We cleared every stretch goal we launched with. So we added more. Nine new pterosaurs and a few upgrades to the book. Every $2,000 past the goal pays an artist to paint another animal almost nobody has drawn before. https://fossi.ls/ks

Pete Buchholz, author of our book, is doing an AMA this Wednesday. Ask him anything about pterosaurs, the science, or the five years we spent making this. Wednesday, August 19, 10am Eastern, here and in the Kickstarter comments. Bring your most incisive questions. https://fossi.ls/ks

$36,000. Garudapterus buffetauti is going into the book, painted by Julio Lacerda. The first pterosaur ever named from Thailand, from a 130 million year old jaw. That's the last rung of the stretch goal ladder we launched with. We blew past all of it, so we're adding more. https://fossi.ls/ks

One of the world's foremost pterosaur experts, Alexander Kellner of the Museu Nacional in Rio, got an early look at the book. "He has done a magnificent job, covering virtually every aspect of these flying reptiles with up-to-date information." https://fossi.ls/ks

$34,000. The life list is unlocked. A checklist of every species in the guide, so you can mark off the ones you've read about. Plus a set of wallpapers of the book's art for your phone and desktop. Next up, $36,000. https://fossi.ls/ks

Meet Ikrandraco, named after the flying creatures in Avatar. In the book it shares a spread with a second Ikrandraco species, each with its art, when and where it lived, its size next to a person, and a map of where it's been found. https://fossi.ls/ks

Fabrizio De Rossi is painting Melkamter pateko for the book. Named in 2024 from Patagonia, it's the oldest known monofenestratan, from the Early Jurassic lineage that later produced the pterodactyloids. Fabrizio has sixteen pages in the guide.

$32,000. Melkamter pateko is going into the book. Named in 2024 from Patagonia, it's the oldest known member of Monofenestrata, the Early Jurassic lineage that would later produce the pterodactyloids. Next: $34,000. https://fossi.ls/ks

Nathan E. Rogers is painting Inabtanin alarabia for the book. Named in 2024 from Jordan, with a wingspan of 17 feet. CT scans of its arm bone show the crisscrossed struts of a flapping flier, not a soarer like its giant neighbor Arambourgiania. Nathan has painted over a dozen plates in the guide.