are birds related to pterodactyls

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Pterosaurs—the giant, leathery flying creatures of the age of the dinosaurs—were giant reptiles, NOT dinosaurs. The pterosaurs had slim bodies and thin-walled, lightweight bones, ideal for flying. They thrived for 160 million years, passing into history after the same asteroid strike that finished off the large dinosaurs. Today’s birds are modern-day dinosaurs, descended from creatures similar to the terrifying T-Rex.

Imagine a scene from the age of dinosaurs — giant ferns, prehistoric bugs, a fearsome T-Rex standing right in front of you.

And gliding just above are strange, leathery flying creatures. Were they dinosaurs? Did they give rise to birds?

The answer to both questions is “no”. The flying creatures were pterosaurs. Pterosaurs—often called pterodactyls—were flying reptiles. Dinosaurs, which used to be thought of as giant reptiles, were an entirely different group of creatures. It was the dinosaurs that became the creatures that we now know as birds.

Pterosaurs came in all sizes. From a tiny one with a 10-inch wingspan, to a monster with a 36-foot wingspan.

Pterosaurs thrived for 160 million years, passing into history after the same asteroid strike that finished off the large dinosaurs.

Although the evolutionary path from dinosaurs to modern day birds is still a subject of debate, scientists agree that birds are the only type of dinosaur living today.

And even though you might hear someone compare a Great Blue Heron to a pterodactyl, that heron is actually more closely related to that scary T-Rex.

For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein. ### Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Recorded by TA Parker and B McGuire. BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler. Producer: John Kessler Managing Producer: Jason Saul Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone © 2018 Tune In to Nature.org July 2018/2021 Narrator: Michael Stein ID# pterodactyl-01-2018-07-26 pterodactyl-01

Furthermore, despite what you might hear, a Great Blue Heron is more closely related to that terrifying T-Rex than it is to a pterodactyl.

And gliding just above are strange, leathery flying creatures. Were they dinosaurs? Did they give rise to birds?.

Pterosaurs came in all sizes. A monster with a 36-foot wingspan emerged from a tiny one with a 10-inch wingspan.

It’s still up for debate, but scientists generally agree that birds are the only extant dinosaur species that evolved from dinosaurs.

Picture yourself in a scene from the age of dinosaurs, complete with enormous ferns, ancient insects, and a terrifying T-Rex staring directly at you.

This tale is based on an article that appeared in Rotunda, the Member magazine, in its Spring 2014 issue. What are you looking for?.

However, when the first pterosaur skeleton was found in the mid-1700s in the German limestone quarry Solnhofen, the answer was by no means evident, as you can discover in the new exhibition Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs.

Speculation raged even after 1801, when the renowned French anatomist Georges Cuvier studied drawings of the skeleton and concluded the animal was something new to science: a flying reptile that Cuvier later named ptero-dactyle (wing finger in Greek), whose wings were composed of a shortened upper arm bone along with a dramatically elongated fourth finger that likely supported a wing membrane. Perhaps, early observers speculated, the specimen’s long, skinny arm-and-finger bones were for swimming? Or was it some kind of toothed, clawed, winged bird? Or even a mammal?

According to current scientific consensus, pterosaurs are still more closely related to dinosaurs than to any other group, including crocodiles, who are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs. It is also evident that pterosaurs accomplished the incredible feat of being the first vertebrates to fly. Long ago, tiny invertebrate insects had begun to fly, but no creature as big as a four-legged vertebrate had ever tried to do so.

These extinct reptiles lived from roughly 220 million years ago to the end of the late Cretaceous period, 66 million years ago. They vanished at the same time as large dinosaurs in a mass extinction event. Since Cuvier’s time, the fossil record has revealed much more about these species.

FAQ

Are birds descended from pterodactyls?

Pterosaurs—often called pterodactyls—were flying reptiles. Dinosaurs, which used to be thought of as giant reptiles, were an entirely different group of creatures. It was the dinosaurs that became the creatures that we now know as birds. Pterosaurs came in all sizes.

What animal is related to a pterodactyl?

Today’s scientific consensus is that pterosaurs are nonetheless more closely related to dinosaurs, whose living descendants are birds, than to any other group, including the next-closest, crocodiles.

Are pterodactyls the closest relative to birds?

Pterosaurs are nonetheless more closely related to birds and other dinosaurs than to crocodiles or any other living reptile, though they are not bird ancestors. Pterosaurs are also colloquially referred to as pterodactyls, particularly in fiction and journalism.

What is the closest living relative to pterodactyl?

Birds are the closest living relative of extinct pterosaurs and four-winged dinosaurs. After carefully cutting away the muscles surrounding the birds’ hip joints, she manipulated the joints while taking x-ray videos.