a large flying animal that lived many millions of years ago (pteron + daktylos ). Any member of the pterosaur suborder Pterodactyloidea, known from Late Jurassic and Cretaceous fossils (159-65 million years ago) in eastern Africa and Europe. Members of the typical genus, Pterodactylus, ranged from the size of a sparrow to that of an albatross. Pterodactyls had slender, delicate teeth that were angled forward (possibly for use as straining devices), long metacarpal bones, and a short tail. They were probably able gliders but not efficient as active fliers, and they apparently lacked feathers. Unlike the archaeopteryx, the pterodactyl was not an ancestor of the birds