pterosaur

[ ter-uh-sawr ]

noun

1. any flying reptile of the extinct order Pterosauria, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, having the outside digit of the forelimb greatly elongated and supporting a wing membrane.

pterosaur

/ ˈtɛrəˌsɔː /

noun

1. See plesiosaur, dinosaur
   any extinct flying reptile of the order Pterosauria, of Jurassic and Cretaceous times: included the pterodactyls Compare dinosaur plesiosaur

pterosaur

/ tĕr′ə-sôr′ /

1. Any of various extinct flying reptiles of the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods with wings consisting of a flap of skin supported by an elongated fourth digit on each forelimb (rather than an elongated second digit as in birds). Some pterosaurs were unique among reptiles in being covered with hair. Pterosaurs had wingspans ranging from less than 0.3 m (1 ft) to close to 15.2 m (50 ft).

Word History and Origins

Origin of pterosaur¹

1860–65; < New Latin Pterosauria; ptero-, -saur

Example Sentences

The pterosaur specimen, however, was definitely not perfect.

From Popular-Science

In 2013, a police raid at Santos Harbor in Brazil recovered about 30,000 smuggled fossils, including the most intact specimen of a type of big-headed pterosaur ever found.

From Science News

“Baby pterosaurs almost certainly didn’t glide,” they flew, says Kevin Padian, a paleontologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who was not part of the new study.

From Science News

A new analysis of the fossilized wing bones of embryonic, newly hatched and adult pterosaurs suggests the baby creatures were strong and nimble fliers from the start, researchers report July 22 in Scientific Reports.

From Science News

Adult pterosaurs, less able to maneuver due to their size, may have then switched to more open habitats.

From Science News

The last, and perhaps the most interesting, of the doomed monsters of the Mesozoic was the Pterosaur, or "flying reptile."

From Project Gutenberg