Dinosaurs were the dominant animals during the Mesozoic. Throughout this era, they greatly diversified and spread across the planet. Some of them dared to colonize the air, giving rise to different types of flying dinosaurs and, finally, to birds.
However, the huge flying animals commonly called dinosaurs are not, but are other types of flying reptiles You want to know more? Do not miss this article on our site about types of flying dinosaurs: names and images.
Flying Dinosaur Lessons
During the Mesozoic, many kinds of dinosaurs populated the entire planet, becoming the dominant vertebrates. We can group these animals into two orders:
- Ornithischians (Ornithischia): They are known as “bird-hipped” dinosaurs, since the pubic branch of their structure pelvic was oriented caudally (towards the tail), as in modern birds. These dinosaurs were herbivorous and very numerous. Their distribution was worldwide, but they became extinct in the Cretaceous-Tertiary limit.
- Saurischia (Saurischia): these are the “lizard-hipped” dinosaurs. The pubic branch of the saurischians had a cranial orientation, as in modern reptiles. This order includes all types of carnivorous dinosaurs as well as many herbivores. Although most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, some of them survived: birds or flying dinosaurs.
Characteristics of flying dinosaurs
The appearance of flight in the dinosaurs was a slow process during which the adaptations of modern birds arose. In chronological order of appearance, these are the characteristics of flying dinosaurs:
- Three Fingers: Hands with only three functional fingers and hollow bones, much less heavy. These features appear about 230 million years ago in the suborder Theropoda.
- Rotating dolls: thanks to a crescent-shaped bone. The well-known Velociraptor had these characteristics, which allowed it to hunt prey with a blow of the arm.
- Feathers (and more): reversal of the first toe, long arms, reduction in the number of vertebrae, short tail and appearance of feathers Representatives of this stage could glide and perhaps even flap their wings for light flight.
- Coracoid bone: appearance of the coracoid bone (connects the shoulder to the thorax), caudal vertebrae fused forming the tail of birds or pygostyle and prehensile feet. Dinosaurs that possessed these characteristics were arboreal and had powerful wingbeats for flight.
- Alula bone: Appearance of the alula, the bone resulting from the fusion of atrophied fingers. This bone improved flight maneuverability.
- Tail, back and sternum short: shortening of the tail and back and keeled sternum. These are characters that gave rise to the modern flight of birds.
Types of flying dinosaurs
Flying dinosaurs included and include (birds) both carnivorous animals and many types of herbivorous and omnivorous dinosaurs. Now that we know the characteristics that, little by little, gave rise to birds, let's see some types of flying dinosaurs or primitive birds:
Archaeopteryx
It is a genus of primitive birds that lived during the Late Jurassic, about 150 million years ago. They are considered a transitional form between flightless dinosaurs and modern birds. They did not measure more than half a meter, their wings were long and they had feathers. However, it is thought that could only glide and may have been tree nuthatches.
Iberomesornis
It is a flying dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous, about 125 million years ago. It measured no more than 15 centimeters, had prehensile feet, pygostyle and coracoids. Its fossils were found in Spain.
Ichthyornis
It was one of the first toothed birds to be discovered and was considered by Charles Darwin as one of the best proofs of the theory of evolution. These flying dinosaurs lived 90 million years ago and had a wingspan of about 17 inches. Externally, they were very similar to modern seagulls.
Differences between dinosaurs and pterosaurs
As you can see, the types of flying dinosaurs had nothing to do with what you probably imagined. That's because the great flying reptiles of the Mesozoic weren't actually dinosaurs, but pterosaursBut why? These are the main differences between the two:
- The wings: The wings of pterosaurs were membranous expansions that joined the fourth finger of the hand with the hind limbs. However, the wings of flying dinosaurs or birds are modified forelimbs, that is, they are bony.
- The limbs: dinosaurs have their limbs under their body, supporting their entire weight and allowing them to maintain a rigid posture. Pterosaurs, on the other hand, had their limbs extended to both sides of the body. This difference is due to the fact that the pelvis is very different in each group.
Types of pterosaurs
Pterosaurs, poorly known as flying dinosaurs, were actually another type of reptile that lived with the real dinosaurs during the Mesozoic. There are many families of pterosaurs that are known, so we are going to see only some outstanding genera:
Pterodactyls
The best-known types of flying reptiles are the pterodactyls (Pterodactylus), a genus of carnivorous pterosaurs that fed on small animals. Like most pterosaurs, pterodactyls had a crest on their heads that was probably a sexual call.
Quetzalcoatlus
The huge Quetzalcoatlus are a genus of pterosaurs belonging to the Azhdarchidae family. This family includes the largest types of flying “dinosaurs known.
Quetzalcoatlus, named after an Aztec deity, could reach a wingspan of 10-11 meters and were probably predators. It is thought that they were adapted for terrestrial life and quadrupedal locomotion.
Rhamphorhynchus
The ranforhynchus was a relatively small pterosaur, with a wingspan of almost two meters. Its name means “snout with beak” and is due to the fact that it had a snout ending in a beak without teeth at the apex. Although, without a doubt, its most striking feature was its long tail, frequently depicted in the movies.
Other examples of pterosaurs
Other types of “flying dinosaurs” include the following genera:
- Preondactylus
- Dimorphodon
- Campylognathoides
- Anurognathus
- Pteranodon
- Arambourgiana
- Nyctosaurus
- Ludodactylus
- Mesadactylus
- Sordes
- Ardeadactylus
- Campylognathoides
Now that you know the types of flying dinosaurs that exist, you may also be interested in this other article on our site about Prehistoric Marine Animals.
