RR Dinos Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs

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Read It!RR Dinos Pterosaurs

  • Pterosaurs (pronounced TEHR-oh-sawrs—the “p” is silent!) were flying reptiles that soared through the skies during the Dinosaur Age. But they were not dinosaurs. Some pterosaurs were as small as sparrows. Others were as long as school buses from wingtip to wingtip!
  • Pterosaurs lived on Earth for more than 150 million years. Their bodies changed over time. The smallest ones could fit in your hand and caught flying insects. Larger pterosaurs caught fish
    and other small animals. The last pterosaurs were giants that may have eaten dinosaurs!
  • Pterosaur wings were amazing—and a little weird! The wings were attached to the pterosaur’s arms and hands. One special finger on a pterosaur’s hand was extra long. The skin for the wing,
    called a flight membrane, was attached to that finger. Many pterosaurs ate insects, small animals, and fish. So they needed to zip and dive to catch their food.
  • Pterosaur fossils are hard to find. That’s because pterosaur bones were like bird bones, light and filled with air. They were just right for flying. But when a pterosaur died, its bones were often too fragile to make good fossils.