Knowra Pterosauria Pterosauria Pterosauria is an extinct clade of flying reptiles that lived from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous. Its members included early long-tailed forms and later short-tailed forms.
Pterosaur wing : A flight surface formed by a skin membrane stretched mainly between the body and an elongated fourth finger. The elongated fourth finger supported the membrane that gave pterosaurs their characteristic wings.
Archosauria : A reptile group that includes crocodilians, birds, and their extinct relatives. Pterosaurs belong to Archosauria, alongside dinosaurs and crocodile-line reptiles.
Triassic : The geological period preceding the Jurassic, lasting from about 252 to 201 million years ago. The oldest known pterosaurs appear in the Late Triassic.
Quetzalcoatlus : A giant Late Cretaceous pterosaur from North America, among the largest known flying animals. Its enormous size demonstrates the upper extreme of pterosaur body dimensions.
Bird : A feathered vertebrate in the living dinosaur group Avialae, with forelimbs modified as wings. Birds are living flying archosaurs, but their wings evolved independently of pterosaur wings.
Pterosaur flight : The aerodynamic and muscular process by which pterosaurs launched, flew, and controlled their movement through the air. Their ability to fly under its own power distinguishes pterosaurs from other flying vertebrates.
Ornithodira : The archosaur group comprising pterosaurs and dinosaurs, including birds. This broader grouping places pterosaurs among the closest relatives of dinosaurs.
Late Triassic : The final epoch of the Triassic Period, approximately 237 to 201 million years ago. Pterosaurs are documented by this interval, though their earliest origins may be older.
Pteranodon : A large Late Cretaceous pterosaur from North America, notable for its long toothless jaws and cranial crest. Its familiar fossils illustrate a large, toothless pterosaur unlike many earlier forms.
Bat : A mammal whose wing membrane is supported by elongated fingers and used for powered flight. Bats share a membrane-wing design with pterosaurs despite their distant mammalian ancestry.
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