Meet the amazing reptiles that ruled the prehistoric skies, from tiny insect-catchers to giants as big as airplanes, and find out which dinosaurs could really fly.
Quick Answer
The “flying dinosaurs” most people think of are really pterosaurs (TEH-roh-sores), flying reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs. Famous ones include Pteranodon and giant Quetzalcoatlus. Pterosaurs were dinosaur cousins, not dinosaurs. The only true flying dinosaurs are birds and their feathered ancestors!
Pterosaurs were the first animals with backbones to fly, millions of years before birds or bats. They lived from about 228 to 66 million years ago, soaring over the heads of dinosaurs like T. rex and Triceratops.
They came in all sizes. Some were as small as a sparrow, and others were as big as a small airplane! Most had long beaks, and many had colorful crests on their heads. Instead of scales or feathers, many were covered in a fuzzy coat of hair-like fibers.
Finger wings
A pterosaur's wing was a sheet of skin stretched from one super-long fourth finger down to its legs. Birds' wings are made of feathers.
Different legs and hips
Dinosaurs stood with their legs straight underneath their bodies. Pterosaurs' hips and legs were built differently.
A separate branch
Pterosaurs and dinosaurs shared a common ancestor, so they're close cousins, like lions and tigers, but not the same family.
💡 Same with the sea: giant swimming reptiles like Mosasaurus and plesiosaurs weren't dinosaurs either. Dinosaurs lived on land!
Say it: teh-RAN-oh-don · Means: “Wings and no teeth”
⭐ The most famous “flying dinosaur.” It had no teeth and a long head crest, and it swooped over the sea to catch fish.
Say it: KET-sal-koh-AT-lus · Means: “Named after Quetzalcoatl, a feathered serpent god”
⭐ One of the biggest flying animals ever, with wings as wide as a small airplane. Standing up, it was as tall as a giraffe!
Say it: HAT-zeh-GOP-ter-ix · Means: “Hațeg wing (a place in Romania)”
⭐ A giant with an extra-wide, strong skull. On its island home it may have been the top predator, even hunting small dinosaurs.
Say it: RAM-foh-RINK-us · Means: “Beak snout”
⭐ Its long tail ended in a diamond-shaped flap, like a kite. Its forward-pointing teeth were perfect for snatching slippery fish.
Say it: dye-MOR-foh-don · Means: “Two-form tooth”
⭐ It had a big, puffin-like head and two kinds of teeth. Its first fossil was found by the famous fossil hunter Mary Anning in 1828.
Say it: TEH-roh-DAK-tih-lus · Means: “Winged finger”
⭐ The very first pterosaur ever discovered. It's where the nickname “pterodactyl” comes from, which people now use for all pterosaurs.
Say it: NEM-ih-koh-LOP-ter-us · Means: “Hidden flying forest dweller”
⭐ One of the tiniest pterosaurs ever found, with wings about as wide as a sparrow's. It probably perched in trees and ate insects.
Some small, feathered meat-eating dinosaurs grew wings and took to the air. Their descendants are the birds flying around today, which means birds are living dinosaurs. Meet two of the first feathered flyers:
Say it: AR-kee-OP-ter-ix · Means: “Ancient wing”
⭐ About the size of a raven, with feathered wings, but also teeth, claws and a bony tail. It's one of the first bird-like dinosaurs.
Say it: MY-kroh-RAP-tor · Means: “Small thief”
⭐ A crow-sized dinosaur with feathered wings on its arms AND legs, like a four-winged glider. Its feathers were shiny black, like a crow's!
🐦 Look up! Every pigeon, owl and eagle you see is a real flying dinosaur.
Wingspan means the distance from one wingtip to the other. Here's how these flyers compare with a bald eagle and a small four-seat airplane. Sizes are scientists' best estimates.
Super-light bones
Their bones were hollow and filled with air, with walls as thin as a playing card in some giants. Light bones made flying easier.
A four-leg jump
Scientists think pterosaurs launched by pushing off with their arms and legs together, like a pole-vaulter springing into the air.
Soaring on the wind
Big pterosaurs probably soared on warm air and sea breezes, like albatrosses and vultures do today, flapping only now and then.
The flying reptiles people call “flying dinosaurs” are pterosaurs (TEH-roh-sores). Many people call them pterodactyls. They were close cousins of dinosaurs, but not dinosaurs themselves. The only true flying dinosaurs are birds and their feathered ancestors.
Pterosaurs are on a different branch of the reptile family tree. Their wings were made of skin stretched from one super-long finger, and their hips and legs were built differently from dinosaurs'. Dinosaurs stood with their legs straight under their bodies.
The biggest flying reptiles were Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx, with wingspans of around 33 to 36 feet (10 to 11 meters), as wide as a small airplane. Quetzalcoatlus was as tall as a giraffe when standing on the ground.
No. Pterodactylus is a pterosaur, a flying reptile that lived alongside dinosaurs. It was the first pterosaur ever discovered, which is why “pterodactyl” became the nickname for all of them.
Yes, birds! Birds are living dinosaurs that evolved from small, feathered dinosaurs. Every bird you see flying is technically a flying dinosaur. Pterosaurs, however, all died out 66 million years ago.
Most ate fish they scooped from the sea, like Pteranodon and Rhamphorhynchus. Tiny ones like Nemicolopterus probably ate insects, and giants like Quetzalcoatlus likely walked on the ground snapping up small animals, a bit like a giant stork.
Image credits (via Wikimedia Commons): Pteranodon by TotalDino (CC BY 4.0); Quetzalcoatlus by Mark Witton and Darren Naish (CC BY 3.0); Hatzegopteryx by Nobu Tamura (CC BY 3.0); Rhamphorhynchus by Jaime A. Headden (CC BY 3.0); Dimorphodon by Mark P. Witton (CC BY 4.0); Pterodactylus by Othenio Abel, 1919 (public domain); Nemicolopterus and Microraptor scene by Lai bou shi (CC BY 4.0); Microraptor by Matt Martyniuk (CC BY 3.0); Archaeopteryx by DataBase Center for Life Science (CC BY 4.0).
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