Although dinosaurs are extinct today, they are still considered one of the most awe-inspiring creatures in history.
Did dinosaurs fly? Did they really exist? Answer: No, there were no flying dinosaurs.
To date, there is no scientific record of any dinosaurs capable of flight. However, some reptiles that coexisted with dinosaurs could fly; these were called pterosaurs! And pterosaurs were not dinosaurs.
Before the advent of birds and flying mammals like bats, flying reptiles were called pterosaurs, literally meaning "winged lizards." They seemed to have gained propulsion, actively flying and dominating the skies. The first pterosaur fossils were discovered in Bavaria, Germany, in 1784 by the renowned Italian naturalist Cosimo Alessandro Collini. Early scientists named these flying creatures pterodactyls, but many modern paleontologists now refer to them as pterosaurs.
These animals are considered the earliest flying vertebrates, appearing from the Late Triassic to the End of the Cretaceous. Unlike feathered birds, pterosaurs' wings were formed from skin and muscle tissue.
People once thought these flying reptiles were unsuitable for flight and relied on gliding. However, analysis of pterosaur fossils has revealed that all pterosaurs were capable of active flight, meaning they had a "powered" propulsion system. These animals possessed several physical characteristics that enabled them to maintain powered flight: a large brain, highly developed optic lobes (related to vision), and numerous nodules in their skeletons with attached muscles necessary for flight.
So why aren't pterosaurs classified as dinosaurs? And what is the relationship between them?
In many mainstream media outlets and children's books, pterosaurs are often mistakenly identified as "flying dinosaurs," which is incorrect. Pterosaurs are not dinosaurs primarily because they belong to different categories. Both originated from ornithopod archosaurs but later diverged into two distinct species; therefore, pterosaurs and dinosaurs are not subordinate to each other. Furthermore, the definition of a dinosaur indicates that it is a reptile capable of bipedal locomotion, while pterosaurs could not walk upright.
Pterosaurs are not dinosaurs, but they are evolutionarily related. Pterosaurs belong to the order Pteranodontia, while dinosaurs belong to the order Dinosauria, and they exhibit convergent evolutionary behavior. Dinosaurs refer to specific terrestrial reptiles capable of upright gait, and do not include pterosaurs; pterosaurs were simply flying reptiles. In other words, pterosaurs and dinosaurs are like "cousins," closely related, representing two evolutionary directions that lived in the same era, and their most recent ancestor is the ornithopod archosaur.
There is more than one species of pterosaur; the name is a collective term for many prehistoric flying reptiles. Pterosaur is a general term for animals in the order Pterosauria. The largest pterosaurs could have a wingspan of up to 12 meters.
Below are some pictures of pterosaurs; take a look at their characteristics:
