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.