Believe it or not, flying reptiles from the past are not dinosaurs, despite being reptiles. Species that ruled the skies, such as the quetzalcoatlus, pterodactyl, pterosaur, hatzegopteryx, and azhdarchidae family, are what's known as pterosaurs. By proper definition, a dinosaur is a prehistoric reptile that did not fly, or have flippers and had their legs positioned directly under their hips (like a bird).
Pterosaurs are prehistoric reptiles with a fourth finger and could fly (note that not all pterosaurs had specific leg positioning). This excludes species like the feathered velociraptor and many other raptor species, due to having feathers instead of membranes (skin-like material) between their fingers and these dinosaurs could not fly, regardless of the wings.
Another mistaken category of prehistoric reptile are the plesiosaurs. A plesiosaur is a marine reptile that had flippers and flat, broad body. Species like the sarcosuchus (similar to that of the modern-day crocodile) are not included in this sub-division of reptile, as they do not have flippers. However, they are not dinosaurs either due to their legs protruding from their sides rather than under their hips and are classified as crocodylians. It's most likely that a majority of all plesiosaurs had long, slender necks and small heads, but species like the mosasaurus had short necks and a gigantic, muscular head.
[A|N: So that was my first "chapter" of the book and I hope you enjoyed. If you knew this already I think that's good for you, if not that's fine because now you know! I'll be writing more for this book and plan to update once a week, or at the very least once a month if I'm busy.]
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Dinosaur (And Other Prehistoric Species) Myths
Non-FictionThink you know dinosaurs? Maybe, maybe not. See if you knew these interesting facts about dinosaurs and other prehistoric species, or if you believed in the myths and lies about dinosaurs you thought you knew! Note that I will try to upload a new on...
