Pterosauria (class Reptilia, subclass Archosauria) A Mesozoic order of flying reptiles (popularly known as pterodactyls) which were particularly numerous in the Jurassic but survived until late Cretaceous times. Their fossil skeletons suggest that they could not stand upright on land, and so it is assumed that their mode of life involved swooping over the sea to catch fish. Their remains are always associated with marine deposits.

Pterosauria (pterosaurs) Mesozoic order of flying reptiles, which were particularly numerous in the Jurassic, but survived until late Cretaceous times. Their fossil skeletons suggest that they could not stand upright on land, and so it is assumed that their mode of life involved swooping over the sea to catch fish. Their remains are always associated with marine deposits. See QUETZALCOATLUS NORTHROPI.

Pterosauria An extinct order of flying reptiles – the pterodactyls – that lived in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods (180–70 million years ago). Pterodactyls had beaked jaws and an elongated fourth finger that supported a membranous wing. They had long jointed tails, no feathers, and could probably only fly by soaring.

pterodactyls See Pterosauria.

pterodactyls See PTEROSAURIA.