pterosaur

noun ptero·saur \ ˈter-ə-ˌsȯr \

Updated on: 1 Apr 2018

Definition of pterosaur

: any of an order (Pterosauria) of extinct flying reptiles existing from the Late Triassic throughout the Jurassic and most of the Cretaceous and having a featherless wing membrane extending from the side of the body along the arm to the end of the greatly elongated fourth digit

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Recent Examples of pterosaur from the Web

During the Jurassic period over the German archipelago, the only company Archaeopteryx would've had in the skies were primitive pterosaurs.

— ashley strickland, CNN, "This 'enigmatic' feathered dinosaur didn't fly like modern birds," 13 Mar. 2018
Multi-layered inter-actives allow users to explore pterosaur fossils, behavior and anatomy.

— roxanne washington, cleveland.com, "'Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs' exhibit at Cleveland Museum of Natural History: photos," 23 Feb. 2018
So did our ancestors — small mammals the size of squirrels or badgers — and the flying reptiles known as pterosaurs.

— kenneth chang, New York Times, "Where NASA Put a Parking Lot, Dinosaurs and Mammals Once Crossed Paths," 31 Jan. 2018
The team then compared Archaeopteryx’s stats to those of 55 modern birds, two crocodilians, and two species of pterosaurs, the winged reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs.

— National Geographic, "This Famous Dinosaur Could Fly—But Unlike Anything Alive Today," 13 Mar. 2018
The bones themselves were hollow, a trait exclusively shared with flying birds and pterosaurs, which suggested that Archaeopteryx could fly.

— ashley strickland, CNN, "This 'enigmatic' feathered dinosaur didn't fly like modern birds," 13 Mar. 2018
Discovering pterosaur diversity Pterosaurs were not dinosaurs.

— roxanne washington, cleveland.com, "'Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs' exhibit at Cleveland Museum of Natural History: photos," 23 Feb. 2018
On the hall’s north end, mostly airborne in the vicinity of the forthcoming 122-foot-long Patagotitan mayorum skeleton model, will be 13 pterosaurs representing three different species of the prehistoric flying reptile.

— steve johnson, chicagotribune.com, "Hanging 'plant clouds,' pterosaurs to join crowd in Field Museum's Stanley Field Hall makeover," 10 Jan. 2018
After that aerial feat is performed, the base framework will go away, too, the Plexiglas will come down, and Stanley Field Hall will be ready for its new residents, the titanosaur, a flock of flying pterosaurs and some live-plant hanging gardens.

— steve johnson and phil geib, chicagotribune.com, "The dismantling of Sue the T. rex at the Field Museum," 3 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pterosaur.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.