Pterosaurs Land in Pittsburgh!
On Saturday, January 30th, a new blockbuster exhibit for dinosaur lovers of all ages will arrive at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History!
During the Age of Dinosaurs, winged reptiles, not known as dinosaurs or birds, but as pterosaurs (the 'p' is silent), soared the skies. These ancient animals were the first creatures other than insects to fly. But this new traveling exhibit reveals that theirs was no ordinary flight: they flew with their fingers and walked on their wings.
Ruling the skies 220 to 60 million years ago, pterosaurs ranged in size from as small as a song bird to as large as a F-16 Fighter Jet. Frequent visitors to the museum's Dinosaurs in The Time exhibit will likely recall the giant pterosaur skeleton that hangs directly above the battling T. rexes. That type of pterosaur is believed to be among the largest flying animals that ever lived. It has a massive skull with a beak-like mouth and a 35-foot wingspan!
"It would have been a very bizarre animal to see fly above you or walk around on the ground," says Mike Habib, a paleontologist and biochemist who reconstructs the anatomy, physiology, and motion of extinct animals, including pterosaurs, which have no living descendants. "It would look like a strange amalgamation of a classic modern reptile, bird, giraffe, and bat all squeezed into one!"
Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs, the most complete look at these mysterious animals, lands at Carnegie Museum of Natural History on January 30th. Don't miss your chance to see these amazing creatures before they leave for the west coast!
The Pterosaurs made a few stops before landing here in Pittsburgh. Check them out below or on the exhibits website here.