Pterosaurs Are Not Dinosaurs
Pterosaurs are known as one of the great animals that inhabited our planet millions of years ago, but many people do not know that these flying animals were not dinosaurs.
What characterizes a dinosaur?
These are not the only reptilian-looking animals from times past that have been confused with these large animals, such as dimetrodon. However, the term dinosaur means terrible lizard, and it speaks of animals that became extinct about 68 million years ago.
However, dinosaurs began to appear 250 million years ago, so we say they spent much longer on Earth than man . Dinosaurs are a group of egg-laying reptiles that have two holes in their orbital cavities.
They are terrestrial animals with extremities under the body, and not turned to the sides, as in the crocodiles, which allowed them to support a lot of weight. In addition, they have other skeletal features, such as having at least three sacral vertebrae and a central hole in the pelvis.
What are pterosaurs?
Pterosaurs do not share many of these anatomical features with dinosaurs, so they are not considered to be such. They are, however, reptiles that lived with these animals and, like dinosaurs, reached impressive sizes.
Interestingly, birds and pterosaurs are not related. Birds can be considered living dinosaurs today, as they come from the few dinosaurs that survived the extinction. Meanwhile, pterosaurs are simply reptiles that evolved to get their wings in another way, just like bats.
In fact, birds have many of the characteristics we cite as dinosaurs, so they are directly related to so-called cellurosaurs.
Fun facts about pterosaurs
Pterosaurs are very curious animals, as scientists believed in their discovery that they were marine animals with huge fins. Like birds, these animals had hollow bones that allowed them to maintain their proper flying weight.
The wings were similar to those of bats, and it is believed that they not only allowed them to glide but also to exercise similar flight to that of an eagle. On the other hand, some had beak-like jaws, while others had needle-like teeth. Many pterosaurs had crests.
These animals are believed to have air sacs, similar to birds. Many pterosaurs were devoured by theropod dinosaurs, and pterosaur vertebrae were discovered with embedded dinosaur teeth. It is likely that these animals were able to move across the ground, and that some of them were able to do so with agility.
It is clear that these giants were fascinating animals that are no longer with us, and that they were not dinosaurs. So do n’t confuse these flying reptiles with their terrestrial companions.
