Biodiversity
Brain
Genetics
Marine BiOLogy
MicrobiOLogy
PaleontOLogy
ZoOLogy
AnthropOLogy
ArchaeOLogy
Astronomy
Climate Change
Earth
Physics
Water
birds
bats
neither
Correct!
Pterosaurs were their own group distantly related to other reptiles. However, they were more closely related to birds than to bats.
Pterosaurs ("winged lizard")
Locality found: All around the world
Age: Triassic to Cretaceous Period, 220-65 mya
Size: 5 inches to 30 feet long
Diet: insects, fish, small reptiles
Characteristics: reptile with wings supported by elongated fourth finger; hollow bones, strong flying muscles, large brains; some had large heads with crests and beaks; some had teeth
Significance: First vertebrate to fly
Pterosaurs are closely related to:
Pteranodons were a group of pterosaurs that were about 6 feet tall, with a wingspan of 20-25 feet. Scientists estimate that it weighed about:
25 pounds
75 pounds
150 pounds
Correct!
Scientists think that pteranodons weighed only 25 pounds. One reason they were so light is that their bones (like all pterosaurs) were hollow.
Pterosaurs and birds never shared the skies.
Fact
OR
Fiction
?
Fiction
The first birds appeared after pterosaurs, but the two groups shared the skies for at least 80 million years. But only birds survived the mass extinction about 65 million years ago.
The wings of pterosaurs were covered with feathers.
Fact
OR
Fiction
?
Fiction
Their wings were more like skin that stretched from their bodies to an extremely long fourth finger. While pterosaurs did not have feathers, some were covered with a "fuzz" of thin fibers.