Pterosaurs The Flying Reptiles: Dinosaur Books For Young Readers

Pterosaurs - The Flying Reptiles

Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Appearance
Chapter 2: Behavior
Chapter 3: Environment
Conclusion
Author Bio

Introduction

Salutations young reader! Today we are going to take a step back in time and enter the age of the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs are an extinct species of animal that began to live on the Earth over 200 million years ago. “Extinct” means that they no longer exist.

The dinosaurs are some of the most intriguing and awe-inspiring animals that have existed on our planet. The dinosaurs’ colossal size, strange characteristics, and mysterious disappearance make them inherently worthy of study and interest. Even more than these reasons, the study of dinosaurs itself is an incredible adventure which requires thought and imagination. The study of dinosaurs helps you to appreciate just how mysterious life really is. Our planet supports not only us and the animals that live today, but it even supported creatures as gigantic and strange as the dinosaurs- just think how cool that is! I hope that you bring a spirit of openness and wonder to your reading, and that you come to appreciate the mystery and value of the dinosaurs.

In this book we are going to learn about the Pterosaurs! The Pterosaurs were winged, flying reptiles which lived during the age of the dinosaurs. The pterosaurs are not considered dinosaurs by scientists, but reptiles. We are going to learn about these winged creatures, where and when they lived, and their relationship with the creatures they lived with. The pterosaurs are often mistakenly called “pterodactyls” but the Pterodactyl is actually just a species of Pterosaur. The Pterosaurs included many species of flying reptiles which ranged considerably in size; from the size of a sparrow to the size of an airplane.

We know what we know about the dinosaurs from a variety of sources including fossils, biology, and other scientific disciplines. Fossils are the ancient remains of the dinosaurs, the most familiar being their bones. Biological science is the study of life in general, but many scientists compare the dinosaurs to modern day animals to support their theories.

Before a talk about dinosaurs can take place it is important that we discuss the theory of evolution. Evolutionary theory supposes that all the animals we know and see today are the direct descendants of animals that existed millions of years ago. The dinosaurs and other creatures that existed millions of years ago either died out or gradually changed into different animals. For instance, birds are considered to be surviving dinosaurs because their dinosaur ancestors survived the dinosaur extinction event (we will discuss this later). The pterosaurs are more closely related to birds than any other reptile.

Remember that any time you see an * next to the name of a dinosaur, it means that a book has been written about this dinosaur in the Dinosaur Books for Young Readers series. Any word written in bold is an important scientific term which is defined in-text. Italics are used to denote the first time a dinosaur’s name is mentioned in the book.