Pterosaurs reached only modest sizes in the Triassic and Jurassic periods. By contrast, the Cretaceous period saw a trend toward large to giant size (2 m to over 6 m wingspans), and while small-medium (less than 1 m to 2 m wingspans) sized forms are known from the Early Cretaceous …
Read More »Origin of Pterosaurs
Pterosaurs were highly successful reptiles that lived between 210 and 65 million years ago. They were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight, but their origin has remained an unresolved enigma in paleontology since the 19th century. With the help of pterosaur skulls and skeletons that were unearthed in North …
Read More »Pterosaurs Flight Ability
In a new study published this week in the journal Nature, a team of researchers from the United Kingdom combined fossil records with a new model of flight to measure flight efficiency in pterosaurs and fill in gaps in our knowledge of their evolutionary story. The scientists were able to …
Read More »Pterosaurs Study
Dr. David Unwin from the University of Leicester and University of Portsmouth’s Professor Dave Martill believe Mesozoic flying reptiles called pterosaurs had a relatively smooth skin without any covering. An artist’s impression of a bald pterosaur and a feathered pterosaur. Image credit: Megan Jacobs, University of Portsmouth. Pterosaurs were Earth’s …
Read More »Giant Pterosaurs Ruled Late Cretaceous Romania, Says New Study
Hatzegopteryx, a flying reptile with a 10-m wingspan and a mass of 220 kg, was the dominant predator in what is now Romania between 72-66 million years ago, according to a study by paleontologists in the UK. Hatzegopteryx, depicted here as a short-necked, powerful predator, consumes the dwarf dinosaur Zalmoxes …
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