Pterry the Pterodactyl

Meet Pterry the Pterodactyl.

Pterodactyls, aka Pterodactylus antiquus, are the most famous members of the Pterosaur order of flying Jurassic reptiles--mostly because early in dinosaur research, every flying reptile got dubbed a "pterodactyl" until it got assigned a more proper classification.

Today, the Pteranodon genus of Pterosaurs is more commonly found in books and TV, and while they are relatives, pteranodons and pterodactyls are not the same species. One major difference is that pteranodons tend to have large, bony crests on the backs of their skulls, while pterodactylus antiquus's crests were made primarily of soft tissue, not bone.

Despite being included in many books on dinosaurs and the central family in the popular "Dinosaur Train" TV show, pterosaurs were not dinosaurs. But what is a dinosaur? Whatever paleontologists define "dinosaur" to mean, of course. The current definition has something to with the shape and function of various foot, ankle, and leg bones, a