Review and expanded anatomical analyses place Pterosauria within archosaur Ornithodira near dinosaurs, but its precise origin and closest relatives remain analysis-dependent.
claim:taxon:pterosauria:taxonomyPterosauria
An archosaur flying-reptile radiation usually placed within Ornithodira near dinosaurs, while its precise origin remains analysis-dependent; package evidence spans eggs, soft tissues and bounded launch models.
Represented range228–66 Ma
Content packagemarine-reptiles-pterosaurs
PBDBtxn:38461
Evidence boundary
Automated checks cover structure, identifiers, translations and links only; maintainer and external expert review are not complete.
Claim ledger
The Pterosauria navigation envelope retains a rounded 228 Ma older edge for the Norian Carniadactylus sample and a broad 66 Ma younger edge; the named specimens support Late Triassic pterosaur presence but not an exact global first or last appearance, clade-origin date or direct ancestry.
claim:taxon:pterosauria:fossil-rangePterosaur remains are reported from every continent, but a 108-taxon analysis finds the record extremely patchy; package dossiers therefore remain tied to named specimens and localities rather than a complete distribution.
claim:taxon:pterosauria:biogeographyPterosaurs support a membranous wing primarily on an elongate fourth finger; launch capacity and flight performance are biomechanical model outputs rather than preserved motions.
claim:taxon:pterosauria:morphologyPterosaurs occupied diverse aerial and coastal guilds, so no single diet, launch mode or habitat is generalized to the entire radiation.
claim:taxon:pterosauria:ecologyKnown limits
- A missing branch or fossil occurrence does not imply biological absence. Internal nodes are not calibrated divergence estimates.
References
- Anatomy and systematics of the pterosaur Carniadactylus gen. n. rosenfeldi (Dalla Vecchia, 1995)Dalla Vecchia, F.M. · 2009 · DOI 10.13130/2039-4942/6377
- Open Tree of Life web servicesOpenTreeOfLife Project
- The Paleobiology Database application programming interfacePeters, S.E.; McClennen, M. · 2016 · DOI 10.1017/pab.2015.39
- On the size and flight diversity of giant pterosaurs, the use of birds as pterosaur analogues and comments on pterosaur flightlessnessWitton, M.P.; Habib, M.B. · 2010 · DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0013982
- The origin of PterosaursBaron, M.G. · 2021 · DOI 10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103777
- Denormalized occurrence and taxon tables of the Paleobiology DatabaseThe Paleobiology Database Community; Kocsis, Á.T. · 2026 · DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21620933
- Egg accumulation with 3D embryos provides insight into the life history of a pterosaurWang, X.; Kellner, A.W.A.; Jiang, S.; et al. · 2017 · DOI 10.1126/science.aan2329
- Pterosaur melanosomes support signalling functions for early feathersCincotta, A.; Nicolaï, M.; Campos, H.B.N.; et al. · 2022 · DOI 10.1038/s41586-022-04622-3
- An analysis of pterosaurian biogeography: implications for the evolutionary history and fossil record quality of the first flying vertebratesUpchurch, P.; Andres, B.; Butler, R.J.; Barrett, P.M. · 2015 · DOI 10.1080/08912963.2014.939077