Are pterosaurs the same as flying dinosaurs?

No — and this is a big deal to paleontologists. Pterosaurs and dinosaurs lived at the same time and are related, but they're completely separate groups. Dinosaurs walked on land with their legs directly under their bodies. Pterosaurs flew. When people say "flying dinosaurs," they almost always mean pterosaurs — but the two are not the same thing.

How do you say Pterodactyl?

TAIR-oh-DAK-til. The P at the start is silent — just ignore it. That's because the name comes from ancient Greek, where the "pt" combination was actually pronounced. In English we dropped the P sound. So just say TAIR-oh-DAK-til and you've got it.

What was the biggest flying dinosaur?

Quetzalcoatlus — pronounced KWET-zal-KOH-at-lus — is the largest flying animal ever found. Its wingspan reached 10 to 11 meters and it weighed up to 250 kilograms. When it stood on the ground it was as tall as a giraffe. It lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous Period.

Did pterosaurs have feathers?

Some pterosaurs had a fuzzy covering called pycnofibers — which are kind of like proto-feathers but not quite. They weren't the same as bird feathers. Their wings were made of skin, not feathers. Scientists have found evidence that at least some pterosaurs were warm-blooded, which makes the fuzzy covering make a lot of sense.

Home/Flying Dinosaur Names

Flying Dinosaur Names

Plot twist: most of the prehistoric creatures that could fly weren't actually dinosaurs.

They're called pterosaurs — say it TAIR-oh-sors — a completely separate group of flying reptiles that ruled the skies for over 160 million years. Not birds. Not bats. Something totally unique that has no living relatives today.

The names of flying dinosaurs range from tiny creatures the size of your hand all the way to Quetzalcoatlus — a prehistoric flying animal with a wingspan wider than a school bus that stood as tall as a giraffe on the ground. Click any name below to hear exactly how to say it.

Click any name to hear how to say it

Pteranodon

teh-RAN-oh-don

Quetzalcoatlus

ket-sal-koh-AT-lus

Dimorphodon

dye-MOR-foh-don

Rhamphorhynchus

RAM-foh-RINK-us

Nyctosaurus

NIK-toe-SORE-us

Tupuxuara

too-poo-SHWAH-rah

Tropeognathus

tro-pee-OG-nah-thus

Dsungaripterus

jung-GAR-ip-teh-rus

Eudimorphodon

yoo-dy-MOR-fo-don

Cearadactylus

see-AR-ah-DAK-tih-lus

Germanodactylus

jer-MAN-oh-DAK-tih-lus

Dorygnathus

dor-ig-NAY-thus

Anurognathus

an-yur-OG-nah-thus

Thalassodromeus

tha-LASS-oh-DROH-mee-us

What Were These Flying Dinosaurs Actually Like?

Flying dinosaur names like Pterodactyl and Pteranodon belong to a group called pterosaurs — prehistoric flying reptiles that were unlike anything alive today. Their wings weren't feathered. They were made of a thin skin membrane stretched from one extremely long finger all the way to their body.

These flying dinosaurs had hollow bones to stay light enough to get airborne, and they could fold those massive wings up and walk on all fours on the ground. The larger ones probably launched by pushing off with all four limbs at once — basically pole-vaulting into the sky.

Dinosaurs that could fly dominated the air from the Triassic Period all the way to the end of the Cretaceous — over 160 million years. Every flying dinosaur name on this page comes from that extraordinary group.

The Most Incredible Flying Dinosaur Names

Quetzalcoatlus is the most extreme flying dinosaur name on this list — because it belonged to the largest flying animal that ever existed on Earth. Wingspan up to 11 meters. As tall as a giraffe when standing on the ground. Named after the Aztec feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl. Scientists still argue about how a prehistoric flying animal that huge actually got airborne.

Dimorphodon is another wild prehistoric flying reptile — it had a head that looked way too big for its body, almost like a cartoon. It might have been brightly colored to attract mates.

Anurognathus is the tiny surprise among these flying dinosaur names — about the size of your hand, it probably snatched insects out of the air mid-flight.

Rhamphorhynchus had a long tail with a diamond-shaped flap at the end — a built-in rudder for steering through the air at speed.

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