Pterosaur

14.06.2024

Pterosaur

Why in the news?                        

Paleontologists recently discovered a new species of pterosaur after analyzing 100-million-year-old fossilized bones uncovered in western Queensland, Australia.

About Pterosaur:

• It is any of the flying reptiles that flourished during all periods (Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous) of theMesozoic Era (2 million to 66 million years ago).
• Although pterosaurs are not dinosaurs, both are archosaurs, or “ruling reptiles,” a group to which birds and crocodiles also belong.
• They were not only the first reptiles capable of flight. They were also the first vertebrates to fly.
• It included the largest vertebrate ever known to fly: the late Cretaceous Quetzalcoatlus.
• The appearance of flight in pterosaurs was separate from the evolution of flight in birds and bats; pterosaurs are not closely related to either birds or bats and thus provide a classic example of convergent evolution.
• Their wings were formed by a sophisticated membrane of skin stretching from the thorax to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger.
• Earlier species had long, fully-toothed jaws and long tails, while later forms had a highly reduced tail and some lacked teeth.
• They often had long necks, which sometimes had throat pouches similar to pelicans' for catching fish.
• The pterosaurs went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period, around 65.5 million years ago, during the mass extinction known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event (K-T extinction event).
• When the pterosaurs disappeared, their role as the dominant vertebrates in the skies was taken over by the birds, which are considered to be of dinosaur ancestry.

                                                       Source: Wion.com

Ques :- The “Pterosaurs”, recently seen in the news, refers to:

A.They were the first vertebrates capable of flight

B.They are closely related to birds

C.They were the first mammals to fly

D.They are closely related to bats

Answer A