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Pterosaur (Pterodactyl)
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles which lived between the Late Triassic period, through the Jurassic period until the Late Cretaceous period when the dinosaurs became extinct. The most famous pterosaur is the pterodactyl.
182 Questions
Pterodactylus fossils date to between 150.8 to 148.5 million years ago. Thus, they presumably died out around 148.5 million years ago, during the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period.
Are flying dinosaurs not called pterodactyls?
No. Pterodactyl was a pterosaur, and pterosaurs were technically not dinosaurs, though they are often incorrectly referred to as such.
How do you tell the difference between pteranodons and pterodactyl?
Pteradactyl is actually scientifically named pterodactylus, despite the fact that not many people know this. Pterodactylus lived during the late Jurassic period. It had a long slender head and beak with small sharp teeth. Pterodactylus also had a short tail and webbed fingers.
Pteranodon was larger than the pterodactylus. It was tailless and lived during the cretaceous period. It had a long toothless beak, a bony crest and large wing span.
What is the main function of the bone that make up pterosaur fingers?
As is the main function of any bone, the main function of the bones in a pterosaur's fingers was to support the finger's structure. Pterosaurs had four fingers on each wing. Three of the fingers stuck out the front of the wing and were used for walking, as pterosaurs were quadrupedal. The extremely elongated fourth finger supported part of the front edge of the wing.
Like most pterosaurs, Pterodactylus probably didn't build nests. They buried their soft shelled eggs in sand, similar to modern crocodillians.
What is the habitat of pterosaurs?
Most pterosaurs lived in coastal areas, near salt water. One major exception is Quetzalcoatlus, who lived near large rivers.
There are over 135 known genera of pterosaur, but none are known to have been plant eaters. All known pterosaurs were carnivores, and depending on the species, their diet would have consisted of insects, fish, or small land animals.
Where was the pterodactyl discoered?
Pterodactylus was discovered in Bavaria, Germany. It was first described in 1784 by Cosimo Alessandro Collini, who believed it was an aquatic animal, simply because it looked so different from anything he had ever seen. In 1800, naturalist Johann Hermann figured out that Pterodactylus had wings and flew, and when he told Georges Cuvier, a zoologist, Cuvier determined that Pterodactylus was a reptile.
Why did the pterodactyl become extinct?
The diplodocus was extinct because not one but too giant 20 km long astroids hit the earth in a unspeekable speed as the fate of the diplodocus's exsistence faded with the rest of the giant reptiles leaving only mammals to pick up the peices and repopulate the earth witch soon created early humans but that is another story.
Pterodactylus, a genus of pterosaur from the late Jurassic period, is estimated to have weighed around 10 to 25 pounds (approximately 4.5 to 11 kilograms). Its lightweight structure, characterized by a large wingspan of up to 33 feet (10 meters), allowed it to soar effectively. The weight varied depending on the specific species and individual size within the genus.
How small is the pterodactyls eggs?
Pterodactyl eggs varied in size depending on the species, but they were generally similar to the size of a modern-day chicken egg, measuring about 4 to 8 inches in length. Some larger pterosaur species may have laid even bigger eggs, but overall, they were relatively small compared to the size of the adult pterosaurs. The eggs were often elongated and had a hard shell, providing protection during development.
