When Pterosaurs Walked

About this film

Pterosaurs, known for their dominance in the skies during the Mesozoic Era, also spent significant time on land. "When Pterosaurs Walked" examines the lifestyle and behavior of these ancient reptiles beyond their aerial capabilities. Through fossil evidence and paleontological research, the episode explores how pterosaurs interacted with their environment and adapted to terrestrial life. The program acknowledges the Indigenous lands where many of these fossils were discovered, specifically recognizing the ancestral homelands of the Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), Pueblos, and Diné Bikéyah Peoples.

Did you know?

Pterosaur

Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of warm-blooded flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous. Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger.

Learn more

Evolution

Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as genetic drift and natural selection act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more or less common within a population over successive generations. The process of evolution has given rise to biodiversity at every level of biological organisation.

Learn more

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The Indigenous peoples of the Americas, also called Indians, Amerindians, or simply Natives, are the peoples who are native to the Americas or the Western Hemisphere. Their ancestors are among the pre-Columbian population of South or North America, including Central America and the Caribbean. Indigenous peoples live throughout the Americas. While often minorities in their countries, Indigenous peoples are the majority in Greenland and close to a majority in Bolivia and Guatemala.

Learn more

Footprint

Footprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking or running. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hooves or paws rather than feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by shoes. They may either be indentations in the ground or something placed onto the surface that was stuck to the bottom of the foot. A "trackway" is a set of footprints in soft earth left by a life-form; animal tracks are the footprints, hoofprints, or pawprints of an animal.

Learn more

Trace fossil

A trace fossil, also called an ichnofossil, is a fossil record of biological activity by lifeforms, but not the preserved remains of the organism itself. Trace fossils contrast with body fossils, which are the fossilized remains of parts of organisms' bodies, usually altered by later chemical activity or by mineralization. The study of such trace fossils is ichnology - the work of ichnologists.

Learn more

Pteraichnus

Pteraichnus is an ichnogenus that has been attributed to pterosaurs. As of 2025, eight valid ichnospecies have been described from various units.

Learn more

More films you might like

From the Fall of Dinos to the Rise of Humans

From the Fall of Dinos to the Rise of Humans