We need no time machine to take us back to the time of dinosaurs and pterosaurs. According to several American explorers, pterosaurs still live, at least in areas like Papua New Guinea. How can this be? Can there be living pterosaurs? Yes, there is nothing unscientific about the hypothesis that one or more species of pterosaur are extant.
Fossils of pterosaurs do not actually tell us about extinction. At best, fossils are a very limited sampling of organisms that once lived. They tell us some things about those life forms, but the key word is "life." No fossil carries a letter that says, "I am the last of my species and I have no eggs that can hatch." Yes, contrary to popular declarations in textbooks and the media, fossils about about life, not death.
The concept of an extant pterosaur comes from eyewitnesses, around the world, who tell us what they have seen: featherless flying creatures that are unlike bats. These sightings are not restricted to Papua New Guinea: One eyewitness reported seeing a giant creature flying over part of the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary near Irvine, California.
See also a listing of Press Releases on Living Dinosaurs and Living Pterosaurs. This includes reports of creatures in Papua New Guinea and Africa.
AOL Hometown Shutdown (including sites on living pterosaurs)
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