Timeline: pterosaurs

Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve active flight capabilities. They acquired it independently from birds and bats. Nevertheless, some similarities seem to indicate the prerequisite for this evolutionary transformation: Pterosaurs wore insulating plumage, modified hands, increasingly hollow bones accompanied by increasingly full braincases, and even a reduced genome. Equipped in this way, they dominated the air long before the first flying dinosaurs emerged. They were able to hunt for fish by soaring above the sea, like the long-tailed Rhamphorhynchus of the Late Jurassic. Under increasing competition from birds, they grew larger and larger during the Cretaceous period. While some continued to perfect their dentition (Santanadactylus), others grew edentulous beaks (Pteranodon). This growth advantage is also found in the largest representatives, which reached a wingspan of around 10 meters (Hatzegopteryx).

digital painting, 2024

Urweltmuseum GEOSKOP Burg Lichtenberg (Pfalz)