Pteranodon vs pelagornis

[Nigel Pisswater]

which one? i have tried Pteranodon many times in the past but never a Pelagornis but which one do you prefer?

[KitsuneShiro]

Pela you can fish from and land on water.

They have different uses.

[Veeshan]

Are the weight and stamina comparable or are they totally different niches?

[Evolvei]

Never tried Pelagornis as a main. Would be nice to be able to land in water to refill stamina.

[Teratus]

If the Wiki is to be believed Pelagornis has slightly more base weight and Stamina than the Pteranodon, as well as a little more HP.

I'd say they're more or less about the same though in terms of stats, specially at low levels.

The difference comes down to utility.
Pteranodon is much faster thus making it a better scout and it has a Barrel Roll attack which does significantly more damage than it's basic attack, it can also pick up small dinos like Dilo's, Dodo's, Achatina, Diplocaulus, Megalania, Hyeanodon, Penguins, Enforcers (for some reason) and Lystrosaurus.
All of which are fairly useful creatures to tame or keep around in the early game.
Diplocaulus being a good starter mount for water exploration as it doubles as a scuba tank.
Lystrosaurus boosts exp gain.
Achatina can be kept around wild for it's cementing paste poop.

The Pelagornis however is a great fishing tame, can be used as a Jetski which doubles as a fishing platform, can land on both land and water and is great for farming organic polymer.
Pelagornis cannot grab and carry anything though.

Both have merits and ARK doesn't limit you in what you can tame either so I see no reason why you don't tame both :)

[jaKiTo]

I love Pelagornis. "I'm out of stamina, I'll stop in the water, there's nothing here". I once managed to kill a Giga by luring it to the water and hitting with my Pelagornis. I certainly wouldn't recommend that adventure, it was really time consuming, but hey, there's my personal achievement.

[crimsondrac]

Pelagornis can fly for longer without their stamina draining too quickly. Pteran can run out of stamina quite fast especially of you are sprint-flying on them. That being said, Pteras are easier to tame, imho. They can eat any type of meat where as you have to feed Pelas Fish meat to tame. I also think you get Ptera saddle before you get pela but I may be wrong on that.

[PlainText]

I know this is a late posting, but I wanted to weigh in.

This isn't a one vs. the other as I think that largely depends on your playstyle. The Pelagornis is a hugely under-rated tame IMHO, particularly for the early-stage solo player. The saddle can be crafted at level 45, just 5 levels after the Pteranodon saddle. But while a low-level Pteranodon can barely lift more than a survivor and light armor even a level 10-15 Pelagornis can lift a player and full gear (armor and weapons) and can quickly level up to carry a player and 8+ foundations (as an example). And while they can't grab other tames or survivors and lift them they are amphibious and can land on and take off from water which can be a decided advantage depending on your playstyle.

They're also super-easy to tame. It's relatively easy to find Pelagornis on the ground in starting areas (depending on the map). Hit them with a bolo and then 2-3 tranq bolts or a just a few more arrows will render them unconscious. (Be careful - they are easily killed if you overdo it.) They're a slow tame so be sure to have sufficient narcotics (or lots of narcoberries) but you can generally find one in a fairly safe zone.

Best of all they can be ridden through a single height, double door. (Although to dismount you'll need to be in an area at least 2 units high if under a roof/ceiling.) Pair a Pelagornis with an enclosed raft and you've got a very self-sufficient mini-base to get you started and help you build a larger base within a quick flight from any body of water reachable by raft.

And if you like pushing the odds on a raft, keep a Pelagornis around - with a few essentials on hand like a sleeping bag and even an emergency shelter - and it makes a great lifeboat in the event of a Leeds attack. While the raft and almost everything on it will be destroyed you and the Pelagornis will be left behind, bobbing on the surface. As long as you don't die of exposure - say in the far north without fur - you can easily fly to safety no matter the distance just by taking breaks on the water. (You can even load an un-deployed raft onto a Pelagornis in a pinch.)

[Spiketail_Drake]

Another thing to consider is using the Pelagornis to gather organic polymer from Kairuku. Don't use it to kill the Kairuku, but as a harvester.

[graviphoton]

For general usage is Pteranodon better, Pelagornis is much more specialized species. I would not skip taming Ptera even if I plan extensively use Pelagornis later.