pterosaur
noun
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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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Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the Chinese Academy of Sciences examined more than 330 fossil specimens, including small bird-like dinosaurs, large plant-eating dinosaurs, flying pterosaurs and a Tyrannosaurus rex. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Actually, T. Rex Probably Couldn’t Stick Out Its Tongue," 22 June 2018 These were the pterosaurs and the bird-like dinosaurs, which had tongue bones that resembled those of modern birds, which are complicated and widely varied. — National Geographic, "Why T. Rex Couldn't Waggle Its Tongue," 20 June 2018 What could explain the resemblance between hyoid structures in birds and pterosaurs? — Mindy Weisberger, Scientific American, "T. Rex Couldn’t Stick Out Its Tongue," 24 June 2018 Only about 100 species of pterosaurs have been found so far, and more than 50 of those were found in China. — Ginny Mohler, Smithsonian, "Ten Chinese Museums Where You Can See a Dinosaur Fossil Up Close," 18 Apr. 2018 That followed the suspension around Maximo’s body of a flock of pterosaur models — flying prehistoric reptiles — on guy lines, birds on a wire. — Steve Johnson, chicagotribune.com, "With a skeleton and megaplanters, the Field Museum fleshes out its main hall," 26 June 2018 Pteranodon was a large flying reptile, or pterosaur, that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. — Amy Raudenbush, Philly.com, "Hey, kids: Draw this prehistoric pteranodon for a chance to see your artwork published," 6 July 2018 Field scientists have been working closely with Blue Rhino to ensure the models agree with current scientific thinking about what pterosaurs would have looked like. — Steve Johnson, chicagotribune.com, "Hanging 'plant clouds,' pterosaurs to join crowd in Field Museum's Stanley Field Hall makeover," 10 Jan. 2018 The scientists did find similarities between birds’ hyoids and those in an unexpected group: pterosaurs. — Mindy Weisberger, Scientific American, "T. Rex Couldn’t Stick Out Its Tongue," 24 June 2018These 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.
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