Guide Note

"Pterodactyl" refers to any flying reptile of the order Pterosauria that lived 228 to 65 million years ago during the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period. There are over fifty genera known. Pterodacatyls are not related to dinosaurs or birds. They evolved from early reptiles, an example of convergent evolution. Note that the term "Pterodactyl" has been replaced by "Pterosaur" in the scientific vernacular.

Fast Facts

1. Pronounced: ter-u-Dak-til
2. Meaning "winged finger"
3. Diet: Carnivore
4. First known flying vertebrate
5. Range: America, Europe, Africa Australia
6. Naming Credit: Georges Cuvier (1801)
7. Popular Examples: Pteranodon, Rhamphorhynchus, Quetzalcoatlus
8. In Pop Culture: The Lost World King Kong Jurassic Park 3

Until the late Cretaceous Period, Pterosaurs filled many of the ecological niches now occupied by birds -- insect eaters, carrion eaters and scavengers, and fishers. They ranged in size from smaller than a sparrow to as large as a modern Cessna airplane and lived in a wide variety of climates. As birds evolved, they pushed most of the smaller species of Pterosaur into extinction. By the end of the Cretaceous, only the largest examples, such as the massive Quetzalcoatlus, remained.

The Kongamato in Africa and the Ropen in Papua New Guinea are reported to match the description of different types of Pterosaurs. So far, no specimens have been captured or scientifically documented to confirm their existence, and remain supported only by eyewitness accounts, legend, and folklore.