PTEROSAURIA • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Pterosauria

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noun

Pterosauria n. pl. (Paleon.) An extinct order of flying reptiles of the Mesozoic age; the pterodactyls; called also Pterodactyli, and Ornithosauria. Note: The wings were formed, like those of bats, by a leathery expansion of the skin, principally supported by the greatly enlarged outer or " little" fingers of the hands. The American Cretaceous pterodactyls had no teeth. See Pteranodontia, and Pterodactyl.

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Etymology of 'Pterosauria'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Pterosauria" Quotes from Famous Books

... there is no ordinally distinct fossil fish: there is only one extinct order of Amphibia—the Labyrinthodonts; but there are at least four distinct orders of Reptilia, viz. the Ichthyosauria, Plesiosauria, Pterosauria, Dinosauria, and perhaps another or two. There is no known extinct order of Birds, and no certainly known extinct order of Mammals, the ordinal distinctness of the "Toxodontia" ...

— Geological Contemporaneity and Persistent Types of Life • Thomas H. Huxley