The flying reptiles are called the pterosaurs. They lived at the same time as the dinosaurs, through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, and probably evolved from the same ancestors as the dinosaurs. Although early studies concluded that pterosaurs were gliders, more recent evidence suggests that many of them could flap their wings and could probably fly quite well.
Pterosaurs (the name means 'winged lizards') belong to the extinct order Pterosauria. Like the dinosaurs, it has been speculated that they may have been warm blooded. The pterosaur wingspan ranged from 6 inches to 40ft, depending on the species, and their wings were leathery membranes stretching from the body to the end of the elongated fourth finger which supported each wing. Pterosaurs probably ate fish and possibly insects.
| Pterosaurs are classified into two major subdivisions, the Rhamphorhynchoidea and the Pteractyloidea. The Rhamphorhynchoidea lived earlier than the Pteractyloidea, and died out in the Jurassic period. This earlier group included Dimorphodon and Rhamphorhynchus. The later pterodactyls included Pteranodon, Pterodactylus and Quetzalcoatlus. |
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