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Pterosaurs get their name from the Greek, Pterosauria, which means
"winged lizards' and were the first flying reptiles, being sauropsids,
belonging to a large group called Arcosaurs. These magnificent animals
dominated the skies for 150 million years before becoming extinct.These
reptiles evolved from land animals and first emerged as fliers in the
Early Triassic period, some 245 million years ago. They adapted their body
shape and size to use 50% less energy over their 150 million year history.
They increased their mass up to 10 times, even to more than 300 kilograms.
They were strong enough to fly on their own at birth. Unlike other species,
they could fend for themselves. They were precocious animals.
This ability to fly allowed them to fly long trajectories during their mature
years. As babies, they had the strength in their bones, muscles and wing
membranes to soar. Moreover, they had strong keratin fibers in the skin of
their wings, which served as feathers in contemporary birds. This allowed
them to take off and navigate the air with ease, as the humeri were even
stronger. Even from a young age, these abilities helped them to flee quickly
from natural predators, hunt their prey nimbly and move independently
through the vegetation.
Born with the ability to fly, hatchlings had long, narrow wings suitable for
long-distance flight, their wings were shorter and wider than those of adult
pterosaurs, with a larger wing area relative to the mass and body size of
the hatchlings.
The wing dimensions may have made these animals inefficient but this
resulted in them being more agile, allowing them to suddenly change
direction and speed.
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