As well as flying, Pterosaurs could move on the ground. But for a while scientists didn't know if this was using two feet (bipedal), or using four feet (quadrupedal). We now know that they used four, from fossil footprints. However, we don't know if they did this all the time. Some scientists think that small Pterosaurs could walk or even run on two feet, but larger ones used all four like bats do now.

Most largePt erod act ylid s had crests on their head, possibly coloured brightly, but different types ofPt erod act ylid s had differently shaped crests. All were narrow, but some stretched out behind their head in a triangle shape (as in the picture on the left), while others were small rounded humps on top of their heads.

Pterosaurs are commonly referred to as Pterdactyls. However scientists prefer Pterosaurs so this name is used in this book.

not dinosaurs, but a close relative.

lived alongside dinosaurs and died out at the same time.

Pterodactyls were carnivores and scavengers. In the first months of their life, they ate bugs and insects. As an adult they ate a lot of fish which they would catch from the surface of the water by dipping their long beaks in as they flew over, but they would also eat dinosaurs that were already dead.

The Pterosaurs lived all through the Mesozoic era. TheRanp hoynchid s lived in the Triassic and early Jurassic periods; and thePt erodact ylids in late Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

Different types of pterosaurs were discovered at different times. The earliest to be found was thePt erod act yl us in 1784 in France by the Italian scientist Cosimo Collini. He didn't think they could fly but thought they could swim. This seems silly now that we know they have wings. Another species was discovered in 1876 by Othneil C. Marsh, and one of the most recently discovered the giganticQuet zal ocatl us found by Douglas A. Lawson. New discoveries are still being made; in the 1990s there were several discoveries made to suggest that even a larger pterosaur could have existed than previously known (Arambourgiania philadelphiae).