Crossword clues for pterosaur
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pterosaur \Pter"o*saur\, n. [Gr. ? wind + ? a lizard.] (Paleon.) A pterodactyl.
Wiktionary
n. Any of several extinct flying reptiles, of the order ''Pterosauria'', including the pterodactyls. (from ''c''. 1860)
WordNet
n. extinct flying reptile of the Jurassic and Cretaceous having a birdlike beak and membranous wings supported by the very long fourth digit of each forelimb [syn: flying reptile]
Wikipedia
Pterosaurs (; meaning "winged lizard") are flying reptiles of the extinct clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period (228 to 66 million years ago). 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 ankles 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 pycnofibers, which covered their bodies and parts of their wings. Pterosaurs spanned a wide range of adult sizes, from the very small Anurognathids to the largest known flying creatures of all time, including Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx.
Pterosaurs are often referred to in the popular media and by the general public as "flying dinosaurs", but this is scientifically incorrect. The term "dinosaur" is restricted to just those reptiles descended from the last common ancestor of the groups Saurischia and Ornithischia (clade Dinosauria, which includes birds), and current scientific consensus is that this group excludes the pterosaurs, as well as the various groups of extinct marine reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs. Like the dinosaurs, and unlike these other reptiles, pterosaurs are more closely related to birds than to crocodiles or any other living reptile. Pterosaurs are also colloquially referred to as pterodactyls, particularly in fiction and by journalists. Technically, "Pterodactyl" refers only to members of the genus Pterodactylus, and more broadly to members of the suborder Pterodactyloidea of the pterosaurs.
Usage examples of "pterosaur".
Recently, Kevin Padian has noted a similarity between the hind limbs and feet of pterosaurs and dinosaurs, suggesting that they may have been bipedal, walking only on their hind legs.
In the sea, this included the mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and ichthyosaurs, and in the air, pterosaurs.
A group of pterosaurs had been working the ocean, skimming low over the surface seeking to scoop up fish in their hydrodynamically elegant beaks.
A common misconception is that birds and bats evolved from pterosaurs, but the differences in the wing show otherwise.
And, say, speaking of odd bone structureit never quite seemed possible to me that Archaeopteryx and the pterosaurs could really fly.
But as the orniths approached, coelurosaurs scuttled away and pterosaurs flapped awkwardly into the air.
Like pterosaurs waiting to make sure something is dead before they come down.
There were flocks of birds, and birdlike, furry pterosaurs, some of whom built huge rafts to support their nests at the center of the lakes, far from the land-based predators.
As more pterosaurs were attracted, the sky became darkened by their gaunt wings.
Birds and pterosaurs flew from their nests and roosting places, already startled by a threat they could not understand, seeking the comfort of the air.
The ground was now littered by debris from inland, bits of smashed trees and crushed animals, dead or dying pterosaurs and birds, even lake-bottom ooze.
Any birds in the air disappeared in a puff of flame, and the pterosaurs vanished into the maw of extinction.
These pterosaurs evolved from reptiles that had learned to glide during the Triassic.
Some pterosaurs were more light-weight because they no longer had bony tails, and some had unusual heads.
The carnosaurs and sauropods were stomping and hissing in their pens, as if angry at being awakened by the squawking of the pterosaurs.