Brandalise de Andrade, Marco; Young, Mark T.; Desojo, Julia B.; Brusatte, Stephen L. (2010). "The evolution of extreme hypercarnivory in Metriorhynchidae (Mesoeucrocodylia: Thalattosuchia) based on evidence from microscopic denticle morphology". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (5): 1451–1465. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2010.501442. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 83985855. Cope, E. D. (1875). "The Vertebrata of the Cretaceous formations of the West". Report, U. S. Geological Survey of the Territories (Hayden). 2: 302 pp., 57 pls. Imagine that your fourth fingers were as long as you are tall, and that you had wings that stretched from the ends of these fingers to your legs! That’s how pterodactyls were built! What Did Pterodactylus Look Like? Most Pterodactylus fossils have been found in the Solnhofen limestone deposits in Bavaris, Germany. Others have been found in England and in Tanzania.

The smallest flying reptile was the size of a sparrow, the largest had a 60 foot, or 18-meter wingspan, and some walked on all fours.Humphries, Stuart; Bonser, Richard H. C.; Witton, Mark P; Martill, David M (2007). "Did pterosaurs feed by skimming? Physical modelling and anatomical evaluation of an unusual feeding method". PLOS Biology. 5 (8): e204. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0050204. PMC 1925135. PMID 17676976. Marsh, O.C. (1871). "Note on a new and gigantic species of Pterodactyle". American Journal of Science. 3. 1 (6): 472.

Formerly assigned species [ edit ] Fossil specimen of the species Rhamphorhynchus muensteri, which was previously assigned as the species Pterodactylus münsteri Oken, Lorenz (1816). Okens Lehrbuch der Naturgeschichte. Vol.3. Leipzig: August Schmid und Comp. pp.312–314. Like dinosaurs, pterosaurs were members of a group of animals called Avemetatarsalia. This group had evolved from reptiles called archosaurs. However, at some point the group split into two main branches: the dinosaurs, and the pterosaurs. Are Pterodactyls Birds?Whenever a story about pterosaurs makes it into mainstream news outlets, it is almost inevitable the flying archosaurs are going to be mistakenly called "dinosaurs" by at least one source. In this case the British newspaper the Telegraph and the venerable BBC were two of the main offenders, each declaring that pterosaurs were dinosaurs in their headlines. a b Henderson, Donald M. (2010). "Pterosaur body mass estimates from three-dimensional mathematical slicing" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (3): 768–785. Bibcode: 2010JVPal..30..768H. doi: 10.1080/02724631003758334. S2CID 85679231. Bowerbank, J.S. (1846). "On a new species of pterodactyl found in the Upper Chalk of Kent ( Pterodactylus giganteus)". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London. 2 (1–2): 7–9. doi: 10.1144/gsl.jgs.1846.002.01-02.05. S2CID 129389179.