Rulers of the Prehistoric Skies Educator Resource Guide Arizona Museum of Natural History 53 N. Macdonald Street Mesa, AZ 85201 Table of Contents 3. Goals For Visit 4. Vocabulary Words 5. Telling Geologic Time 6. What is a Pterosaur 7. Evolution of Flight 8. Taxonomy Chart 9. Arm/Wing Bone Comparison 10. Pterosaur Ontogeny 11. Mesozoic Era 12. Sharovipteryx 13. Icarosaurus siefkeri 14. Rhamphorhynchoids 15. Eudimorphodon 16. Dimorphodon macronyx 17. Libellulium longilatum 18. Pterodactylus 19. Anurognathus 20. Archaeopteryx lithographica 21. Pterodactyloids 22. Pterodaustro 23. Nyctosaurus 24. Quetzalcoatlus 25. Pteranodon 26. Ptweety baby Pteranodon 27. Pterosaur fossil match 28. Pterosaur fossil match answer sheet 29. Beaks, Teeth and Ridges Worksheet 30. Beaks, Teeth and Ridges –Pterosaur and Bird Diversity 31. Beaks, Teeth and Ridges – Pterosaur and Bird Diversity answers 32. Rulers of the Prehistoric Sky Word Find 33. Pterosaur Finger puppet 34. Pterosaur coloring page 35. Pterosaur coloring page 2 GOALS FOR VISIT G To help understand the history of life on earth through the study of prehistoric reptiles. To understand the place of the pterosaurs in the Age of Dinosaurs Students Will Understand That: U Essential Questions Q The prehistoric world of Mesozic Era was very different What is a pterosaur? from our own. What happened to the pterosaurs? Not everything that lived during the Mesozoic Era were Were pterosaurs dinosaurs? dinosaurs. Pterosaurs were flying reptiles, not dinosuars Students Will Know: K Vocabulary V What a fossil is. evidence paleontologist How a fossil is formed. extinct predator How paleontologist use scientific inquiry to study fossils. fossil pterosaur hypothesis retile Mesozoic Era scavenger paleontology Learning Plan L Pterosaur fossil match Beaks, Teeth and Ridges – Pterosaur and Bird Diversity Worksheet Beaks, Teeth and Ridges – Pterosaur and Bird Diversity Questions Rulers of the Prehistoric Sky Word Find Pterosaur Finger Puppet Pterosaur Coloring Sheets Supports the Following State Standards SS Science Strand 1 The Inquiry Process Concepts 1, 2, 3, 4 Strand 2 The History and Nature of Science, Concept 1 Strand 4 Life Science, Concepts 1, 2, 3, 4 Strand 6 Earth and Space Science, Concept 1 Vocabulary Words Evidence Something that can be shown to support a proposed idea. In paleontology, the evidence is often from fossils, but important forms of evidence can also come from other sources, such as the study of genetics and the study of living animals. Extinct To have died out, no longer existing. Fossil The preserved remains or traces of organisms that lived in the past. Hypothesis A hypothesis is a temporary conclusion used to explain certain facts. Mesozoic Era The time period between 248 million years ago and 65 million years ago was called the Mesozoic Era. It is divided into three periods: the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. Paleontologist A scientist who specializes in paleontology. Paleontology The study of plant and animal life in past geologic times, based on fossil remains, their relationships to existing organisms and environments, and their importance to the earth’s history. Predator An organism that exists by catching and feeding upon other organisms Pterosaur An order of reptiles that lived during the time of the dinosaurs. They were the first vertebrates to fly. Reptile A cold blooded vertebrate that uses lungs to breathe, has an external covering of scales and usually lays eggs. Scavenger An organism that feeds on garbage and dead creatures. What is a Pterosaur Pterosaurs, whose name means “winged lizard” were an order of reptiles that lived with the dinosaurs during the Mesozoic Era, the Age of Reptiles and went extinct during the K‐T extinction, around 65 MYA. Among them were the largest animals that ever flew and they ruled the prehistoric skies for 150 million years. Uncontested in the air, pterosaurs colonized all continents and evolved into a vast array of shapes and sizes. Of the 120 named species the smallest pterosaur was no bigger than a sparrow and the largest had a wingspan of nearly 40 feet, wider than an F‐16 fighter plane. There were two suborders, Rhamphorhynchoids, now called primitive pterosaurs, and Pterodactyloids. The earliest known Pterosaur appeared about 220 million years ago during the Late Triassic. They were the earliest vertebrates to have evolved powered flight, although they were not the first flying animals. There were insects that could fly long before pterosaurs appeared. The first group of primitive pterosaurs was the rhamphorhynchoids (ram for rink choids). They remained the only vertebrate fliers for over 65 million years and eventually diversified into a variety of forms and niches. By the Late Jurassic the rhamphorhynchoids had been pretty much replaced by the more advanced pterodactyloids. Early species had long fully toothed jaws and bony tails while later forms had a much shorter tail and some lacked teeth. The first pterosaur fossils were described in 1784 by the Italian naturalist Cosimo Collini, who misinterpreted his specimen as a seagoing creature that used its long front limbs as paddles. It was first suggested that pterosaurs were flying creatures by Georges Cuvier in 1801. Pterosaur fossils have been found on every continent. The anatomy of pterosaurs was highly modified from their reptilian ancestors for the demands of flight. They had hollow bones, were lightly built, and had small bodies. Pterosaurs had large brains and good eyesight. Most of pterosaur skulls had elongated beak like jaws. Some advanced forms were toothless, although most had a full complement of teeth. Pterosaurs are well known for their often elaborate crests. They did not have feathers but fossils suggest some may have had a type of fur made up of hairlike filaments known as pyncofibers. They could fly long distances using large light weight wings covered in a leathery membrane. This thin but tough membrane stretched between the outside of the legs and to the elongated fourth fingers, forming the structure of the wing. Claws protruded from the other fingers. They could flap their wings and fly, but the larger ones such as Quetzalcoatlus probably relied o n updrafts (rising warm air) and breezes to help fly. When on the ground, the more primitive pterosaurs would have had a difficult time moving. They had a large rear membrane that shackled their rear legs, making walking almost impossible. The shape of the upper legs and hips indicates they could not walk upright. They also had long claws on their feet and they were most likely more at home in trees or on a rocky cliff when not in the air. By contrast, the pterodactlyoids were quite comfortable on the ground as indicated by the amount of footprints in the fossil record. The large membrane had split, freeing the legs to be brought under the body. This allowed them to walk much more easily, which in turn enabled them to diversify and move into new environments. Pterosaurs were carnivores and ate fish they caught at the surface of the oceans. Others ate mollusks, crabs, perhaps plankton for some species, insects and scavenged large animals on land. Pterosaurs are often referred to in the popular media as dinosaurs but this is wrong. The term “dinosaur” is properly restricted to a certain group of reptiles with an upright stance and therefore excludes the pterosaurs as well as the various groups of extinct marine reptiles, such as the plesiosaurs and mosasaurs. Birds did not descend from pterosaurs but from small feathered land bound dinosaurs. Evolution of Flight At no other time in the history of life has there been an animal like the pterosaur. They first appear in the fossil record during the late Triassic, about 220 million years ago. The first scientists to discover a pterosaur fossil thought it was a swimmer, because of its webbed appendages. There are two theories surrounding its ancestry. The first theory states that pterosaurs evolved from terrestrial reptiles that spread their arms for balance while running. The second theory states that pterosaurs evolved from an arboreal reptile. Like a flying squirrel, this reptile learned to navigate its environment by jumping, and eventually flying from tree to tree. Either way, pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve flight and they did it in a way that was all their own. The mechanics of pterosaur flight are not perfectly understood by paleontologists. Pterosaurs achieved powered flight, in that flight was sustained, however the mechanical details are not completely understood by paleontologists. The pterosaur wing has been the source of fascination and debate among paleontologists. The pterosaur wing was a membrane that consisted of three sections: the brachiopatagium, the uropatagium, and the propatagium. The membranous wing was extremely flexible and could stretch to change shape during flight to adjust to air flow, a process called passive cambering. There are a handful of pterosaur fossils in which parts of this membrane are preserved. When examined under a special light, fibers that criss‐cross and intricate patterns of blood vessels are visible. However, the majority of information about pterosaur flight has been gleaned from pterosaur skeletons. Pterosaur skeletons had features that made their way of flight unique. First, pterosaurs had a bone called the pteroid bone. This bone originated in the wrist and pointed towards the shoulder. Its purpose was to support the section of the “forewing”, called the propatagium. Some paleontologists think this bone pointed forward during flight, which broadened this section of the wing, increasing lift during flight. Pterosaurs also had an elongated pinky bone. This pinky bone was several feet long in some pterosaurs and it supported the largest part of the wing membrane, the brachiopatagium. These features combined to make pterosaurs apt flyers. Other vertebrate flyers alive today achieved flight through means different than the pterosaurs. Bats are also capable of powered flight.