Pterosaur [Wikipedia]
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period (220 to 65.5 million years ago). [Pterodactylus is a genus of pterosaur, the first to be named and identified as a flying reptile.] Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the legs to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger. Early species had long, fully-toothed jaws and long tails, while later forms had a highly reduced tail, and some lacked teeth. Many sported furry coats made up of hair-like filaments known as pycnofibres, which covered their bodies and parts of their wings. Pterosaurs spanned a wide range of adult sizes, from the very small Nemicolopterus to the largest known flying creatures of all time, including Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx.
Pterosaurs are sometimes referred to in the popular media as dinosaurs, but this is incorrect. The term "dinosaur" is properly restricted to a certain group of terrestrial reptiles with a unique upright stance (superorder Dinosauria, which includes birds), and therefore excludes the pterosaurs, as well as the various groups of extinct marine reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs.
Pterosaur - One of a Kind [Discovery News]
"A well-preserved pterosaur with soft tissues reveals this dinosaur-age flying reptile had hair, claws and wings that were unlike anything seen on today's living animals, suggests a new paper.
Analysis of the remains, which date to around 140 to 130 million years ago, indicate pterosaurs were warm-blooded insect eaters that may have lived in trees and possessed sophisticated flying skills.
"Pterosaurs are unique in their bone construction and our study also shows that some of the soft tissues of these creatures differ from anything known today," lead author Alexander Kellner told Discovery News.
Kellner, a paleontologist at the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, and colleagues made the determinations after studying the remains of the adult pterosaur Jeholopterus ningchengensis, found in Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous layers of the Daohugou Bed in China.
Wing tissues show the pterosaur had a nearly three-foot wingspan with a complex flying membrane located between the animal's body and each of its large fingers. The membrane consisted of up to three layers containing structural fibers, with fibers in each layer oriented in a different direction, forming a reticular pattern. . . . . "
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