Pterosauria

Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of warm-blooded flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous. Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger.

Pterosauria

Matt Martyniuk · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
pterosaurPBDB
Sits inside
PterosauromorphaPBDB
Diet
piscivorePBDB
Life habit
volantPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB

Time the record covers

At least 155 million years on record.

The record covers at least 227.3 Mya to 72.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 237 Mya to 66 Mya.

Middle Triassic — about 0 of 1162 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 44 of 1162 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 68 of 1162 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 65 of 1162 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 217 of 1162 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 436 of 1162 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 332 of 1162 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 0 of 1162 occurrences240–234 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences234–229 Mya — about 3 occurrences229–223 Mya — about 3 occurrences223–217 Mya — about 3 occurrences217–211 Mya — about 19 occurrences211–205 Mya — about 10 occurrences205–199 Mya — about 9 occurrences199–193 Mya — about 5 occurrences193–187 Mya — about 3 occurrences187–181 Mya — about 53 occurrences181–175 Mya — about 3 occurrences175–169 Mya — about 3 occurrences169–163 Mya — about 53 occurrences163–157 Mya — about 28 occurrences157–152 Mya — about 49 occurrences152–146 Mya — about 122 occurrences146–140 Mya — about 64 occurrences140–134 Mya — about 40 occurrences134–128 Mya — about 21 occurrences128–122 Mya — about 84 occurrences122–116 Mya — about 92 occurrences116–110 Mya — about 67 occurrences110–104 Mya — about 46 occurrences104–98 Mya — about 84 occurrences98–92 Mya — about 66 occurrences92–86 Mya — about 22 occurrences86–80 Mya — about 68 occurrences80–74 Mya — about 48 occurrences74–69 Mya — about 64 occurrences69–63 Mya — about 32 occurrences227.3 Mya72.2 Mya240 Mya63 Mya

1,162 occurrences of Pterosauria on record, most of them in the Early Cretaceous. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1,162 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

301 formations

West Melbury Marly Chalk — 52.20°N, 0.13°EWest Melbury Marly Chalk — 52.21°N, 0.16°EWest Melbury Marly Chalk — 51.99°N, 0.36°WWest Melbury Marly Chalk — 52.16°N, 0.00°EWest Melbury Marly Chalk — 52.04°N, 0.15°WWest Melbury Marly Chalk — 52.08°N, 0.05°WWest Melbury Marly Chalk — 52.50°N, 0.25°WWest Melbury Marly Chalk — 52.14°N, 0.08°EWest Melbury Marly Chalk — 52.13°N, 0.04°EPosidonia Shale — 49.92°N, 11.47°EPosidonia Shale — 49.94°N, 11.57°EPosidonia Shale — 48.65°N, 9.53°EPosidonia Shale — 48.75°N, 9.65°EPosidonia Shale — 50.09°N, 11.02°EPosidonia Shale — 50.16°N, 10.95°EPosidonia Shale — 52.36°N, 10.71°EPosidonia Shale — 48.21°N, 8.77°EPosidonia Shale — 48.25°N, 8.81°EPosidonia Shale — 48.65°N, 9.57°EPosidonia Shale — 48.49°N, 9.21°EPosidonia Shale — 48.54°N, 9.29°EPosidonia Shale — 52.27°N, 10.69°ERomualdo — 7.18°S, 39.73°WRomualdo — 7.22°S, 39.27°WRomualdo — 7.97°S, 39.43°WRomualdo — 7.52°S, 39.57°WNiobrara — 38.80°N, 100.87°WNiobrara — 39.12°N, 100.02°WNiobrara — 38.91°N, 101.27°WNiobrara — 38.91°N, 101.24°WNiobrara — 39.42°N, 99.83°WNiobrara — 38.82°N, 100.72°WNiobrara — 39.07°N, 99.82°WNiobrara — 39.37°N, 99.70°WNiobrara — 38.83°N, 100.12°WNiobrara — 39.37°N, 99.93°WNiobrara — 38.92°N, 100.67°WNiobrara — 39.33°N, 99.60°WNiobrara — 38.92°N, 100.33°WNiobrara — 38.77°N, 100.77°WNiobrara — 38.73°N, 101.17°WNiobrara — 38.72°N, 100.70°WNiobrara — 38.64°N, 100.17°WNiobrara — 38.88°N, 100.24°WNiobrara — 39.07°N, 99.04°WMorrison — 41.89°N, 106.00°WMorrison — 41.88°N, 106.08°WMorrison — 38.58°N, 108.40°WMorrison — 38.54°N, 105.21°WMorrison — 41.97°N, 106.29°WMorrison — 38.32°N, 108.83°WMorrison — 39.24°N, 109.00°WMorrison — 39.17°N, 108.77°WMorrison — 44.54°N, 107.78°WMorrison — 39.15°N, 108.77°WMorrison — 42.53°N, 106.76°WMorrison — 37.46°N, 110.51°WMorrison — 36.92°N, 109.08°WMorrison — 36.90°N, 102.98°WMorrison — 37.01°N, 102.99°WMorrison — 39.07°N, 108.73°WMorrison — 40.46°N, 108.39°WMorrison — 39.90°N, 106.61°WMorrison — 44.46°N, 104.73°WMorrison — 44.06°N, 106.72°WJiufotang — 40.59°N, 119.43°EJiufotang — 43.64°N, 120.43°EJiufotang — 41.42°N, 120.18°EJiufotang — 41.57°N, 120.44°EJiufotang — 41.57°N, 120.16°EJiufotang — 41.43°N, 120.04°EJiufotang — 41.53°N, 120.18°EJiufotang — 40.81°N, 119.80°EJiufotang — 40.91°N, 119.50°EJiufotang — 40.65°N, 119.69°ETiaojishan — 41.32°N, 119.24°ETiaojishan — 40.48°N, 119.37°ETiaojishan — 40.87°N, 119.99°EYixian — 41.60°N, 120.87°EYixian — 41.13°N, 121.14°EYixian — 41.60°N, 120.84°EYixian — 41.47°N, 121.19°EYixian — 41.49°N, 119.00°EYixian — 41.80°N, 120.77°EYixian — 41.24°N, 119.40°EYixian — 41.63°N, 121.65°EYixian — 40.65°N, 119.68°EYixian — 42.14°N, 120.97°EWessex — 50.64°N, 1.41°WWessex — 50.67°N, 1.27°WWessex — 50.66°N, 1.13°WWessex — 50.65°N, 1.47°WWessex — 50.65°N, 1.45°WSolnhofen — 48.90°N, 11.17°ESolnhofen — 48.99°N, 11.20°ESolnhofen — 48.91°N, 11.14°EHuérteles — 41.97°N, 2.20°WHuérteles — 42.06°N, 2.45°WHuérteles — 42.08°N, 2.35°WHuérteles — 42.03°N, 2.38°WHuérteles — 42.03°N, 2.68°WHuérteles — 42.06°N, 2.47°WHuérteles — 41.93°N, 2.18°WSolnhofener Plattenkalk — 48.91°N, 11.38°EPierre Shale — 43.88°N, 102.25°WPierre Shale — 43.67°N, 103.45°WPierre Shale — 43.22°N, 103.45°WPierre Shale — 43.41°N, 103.31°WPierre Shale — 43.01°N, 103.30°WPierre Shale — 43.38°N, 104.23°WPierre Shale — 43.30°N, 103.82°WPierre Shale — 43.58°N, 103.20°WPierre Shale — 43.01°N, 104.22°WTendaguru — 9.70°S, 39.24°ECrato — 7.13°S, 39.70°WCrato — 7.00°S, 39.00°WJavelina — 29.40°N, 103.20°WJavelina — 29.25°N, 103.25°WJavelina — 29.29°N, 103.53°WIfezouane — 31.53°N, 4.67°WIfezouane — 30.88°N, 3.86°WIfezouane — 31.61°N, 4.30°WIfezouane — 31.80°N, 4.25°WIfezouane — 31.59°N, 4.18°WDolomia di Forni — 46.39°N, 12.62°EDolomia di Forni — 46.38°N, 12.86°EToolebuc — 20.88°S, 143.80°EToolebuc — 22.92°S, 140.58°EToolebuc — 22.87°S, 140.72°EToolebuc — 22.67°S, 141.50°EToolebuc — 20.43°S, 142.93°EToolebuc — 20.64°S, 143.10°EKsar Metlili — 32.70°N, 3.22°WIsalo IIIb — 16.50°S, 47.07°EIsalo IIIb — 16.55°S, 46.98°ELianmuqin — 46.04°N, 85.79°ELianmuqin — 46.10°N, 85.67°ELianmuqin — 43.55°N, 87.26°ELianmuqin — 46.08°N, 85.77°ECouche III — 32.88°N, 6.62°WCouche III — 32.83°N, 6.23°WCouche III — 32.92°N, 6.65°WKimmeridge Clay — 50.61°N, 2.14°WKimmeridge Clay — 50.61°N, 2.45°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.65°N, 1.29°W

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The named rock units Pterosauria has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 277 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 134 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Pterosauria and its relatives

Early Cretaceous

Where Pterosauria and its relatives were recorded in the Early Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

1,903 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 828 sites for Pterosauria, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

672 references

Each of the 1,162 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 660 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Pterosauria

Credit
Matt Martyniuk
Licence
CC BY 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Photogrammetry

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Pterosauria indet. · mzusp

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itPterosauromorpha through timeFormations of the Early CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Kaup 1834)