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pterosauria

(Science: paleontology) An extinct order of flying reptiles of the mesozoic age; the pterodactyls.

Synonym: pterodactyli, and ornithosauria.

The wings were formed, like those of bats, by a leathery expansion of the skin, principally supported by the greatly enlarged outer or little fingers of the hands. The American Cretaceous pterodactyls had no teeth.

See: pteranodontia, and pterodactyl.