Pterosaur

[[File:Pterosaur flying around - panoramio.jpg|thumb|165px|Dead and fossilised, like they all are]]{{cryptid}}
A '''pterosaur''' (from Ancient Greek ''pteron'' and ''saurus'', meaning "winged reptile") was a member of an order of flying reptiles in existence from 228 to 66 million years ago,<ref name=wp>{{wpa|Pterosaur}}</ref> until they [[K-Pg extinction|met their tragic end]] along with three quarters of other life. Some [[species]] of the largest genera, ''Hatzegopteryx'' and ''Quetzalcoatlus'', might have had a wingspan of over 10 metres, making them the largest known flying animals to have ever lived. They are sometimes called pterodactyls, but that only refers to the genus ''Pterodactylus'' or suborder Pterodactyloidea. They are ''not'' [[dinosaur]]s, not being in the clade Dinosauria, but are closely related.

There shouldn't be any debate over whether they are [[extinct]], but there have been a lot of claimed modern sightings.

==Claimed sightings==
There have been reports of alleged pterosaurs from the [[US]], [[Mexico]], Crete ([[Greece]]), Namibia, and central Africa.<ref name=thoughtco/>

The [[Young Earth Creationist]], [[Carl Baugh]], has carried out investigations trying to find evidence that that pterosaurs are still among us, having supposedly survived on [[Noah's Ark]]. His investigations in [[Papua New Guinea]] have focused on local legends of flying animals variously called ''ropen'', ''indava'', ''kor'', or ''seklo-bali''.<ref>[http://www.ropens.com/texas-pterosaurs/ Texas and Pterosaurs], Ropens</ref> The ropen is claimed to be a large, flying, jungle-living [[cryptid]] which is associated by many creationist Christians with prehistoric flying reptiles.<ref name=ropengp>[https://www.genesispark.com/exhibits/evidence/cryptozoological/pterosaurs/ropen/ The “Ropen” of Papua New Guinea], Genesis Park</ref> Somewhat remarkably, many accounts claim the ''ropen'' literally glows in the dark&nbsp;— somewhat less remarkably no credible evidence of its existence has ever been provided.

===Records of old sightings===
There are claims that some works of ancient or indigenous art show pterosaurs even though they were extinct long before human beings came along. One example is in Thompson, Utah.<ref name=thoughtco>[https://www.thoughtco.com/did-pterosaurs-survive-extinction-2594566 Are Pterodactyl Sightings Real? About Pterosaurs], Thought Co</ref>

Some suggest that myths of [[dragon]]s can be attributed to and explained by historical sightings of pterosaurs. They propose that the "fire" could actually be misinterpretation of a smoke-based defence similar to the ink clouds produced by octopuses.<ref>[http://www.livepterosaur.com/LP_Blog/archives/3409 Do Dragons Exhale Fire?], livepterosaur.com</ref>  Because, naturally, a flying toothed predator&nbsp;— with a ten-meter wingspan&nbsp;— at the apex of the airborne food-chain would want to hide from ... well what?

==The mass extinction==
What proponents of living pterosaurs don't do a good job of explaining is how any pterosaurs managed to survive one of the largest mass extinctions in history, the [[K-Pg extinction event]], yet have managed to remain at a stable-but-extremely low population for ''66 million years''. One would think that, after sticking around for so long, they would be a few more members than what necessitates only [[eyewitness]] testimonies as [[evidence]].

Pterosaurs weren't exactly ''small'', and the fact that they were an aerial species (as opposed to remaining submerged out in deep ocean water) suggests that there really ought to be some more concrete evidence.

==Inaccuracies in fiction==
[[File:Pterosaur wing BW2.jpg|thumb|Structure of a pterosaur wing]]
Pterosaurs have featured in several films including adaptations of [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's]] ''The Lost World'', the original ''King Kong'' (1933), ''One Million Years BC'' (1966), and ''[[Jurassic Park]] III'' (2001). Fictional depictions tend to be inaccurate in several respects.<ref name="mythspnet">[http://pterosaur.net/myths.php Myths and Misconceptions], pterosaur.net</ref>

Their wings are typically portrayed as being bat-like, but in actuality differed in many regards. The wing surfaces were held out by only by an extremely long fourth finger with the other three staying free, whereas bats have their second-through-fifth fingers all supporting the membrane. It is also very unlikely that their wing tips were pointed as that could lead to risky stalling.<ref>[http://pterosaur.net/flight.php Pterosaur flight], pterosaur.net</ref>

Although {{wpl|Rhamphorhynchus|''Rhamphorhynchus''}} and other earlier pterosaurs had teeth, their later descendants did not. For instance, the popular large and crested {{wpl|Pteranodon|''Pteranodon''|,}} whose name means "toothless wing", did not have teeth despite depictions to the contrary.<ref name=wp/>

Only a small number of pterosaurs were piscivores despite a widespread image of them eating fish; and they did not have prehensile claws capable of picking things up and flying away.<ref name="mythspnet"/>

==The pterosaur wing tip debacle==

In April 2022 reputable paleontologist and biologist [[Darren Naish]] has raised a question about the depiction of pterosaur wings as rounded in paleoart.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20220425191240/https://twitter.com/TetZoo/status/1518669123361857536</ref> The concern was in itself rather valid, as many paleoart trends have been noted to be exaggerated and/or idiotic, but a number of posts have cited Hone 2015<ref>[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018215004824 The wingtips of the pterosaurs: Anatomy, aeronautical function and ecological implications] by D. W. E. Hone et al. (2015) ''Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology'' 440:431-439. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.08.046.</ref> and other papers on the matter. This in turn has lead to a wave of [[Bait-and-switch|goalshifting]] on many commenters, usually by focusing on the definition of "convex" and "lobe". This culminated in artist R.J. Palmer calling Hone "a 17 year old on deviantart".<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20220426004407/https://twitter.com/arvalis/status/1518752543286824961</ref>

==See also==
*[[Dinosaur]]
*[[Quetzalcoatl]]

==External links==
===Some cryptozoologist sites===
Go searching for sites promoting this and you're bound to come across one attributed to [http://www.jonathanwhitcomb.com/ Johnathan David Whitcomb], which certainly explains why they promote the exact same set of books.

The following sites [[Gish Gallop|all bear this attribution]], though some have other authors as well.
* [http://live-pterodactyl.com/ live-pterodactyl.com], which doesn't actually confine itself to just ''Pterodactylus''
* [https://www.livepterosaur.com live-pterosaur.com] and [https://www.livepterosaur.com/LP_Blog/ the associated blog]
* [http://livingpterosaurs.com/ livingpterosaurs.com] Noticing a theme?
* [https://www.applaud-health.com/pterosaur-fossils/ Pterosaur fossils] which seeks "to compare pterosaur fossils with reports of apparent pterosaurs seen as still living by eyewitnesses."<ref>[https://www.applaud-health.com/pterosaur-fossils/purpose-of-pterosaur-fossils/ Purpose of "Pterosaur Fossils"]</ref>
* [http://www.laattorneyvideo.com/nonlegal/pterosaurs/ Pterosaurs still living] as well as [http://www.laattorneyvideo.com/nonlegal/pterodactyl/ a similar page under the same directory] with slightly different content
* [http://www.newanimal.org/pterosaur.htm Pterosaurs and Pterodactyls in Cryptozoology]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Creationism]]

Categories: Animals, Creationism