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==== Pterosaurs in media ====
In [[Real Life]], pterosaurs were the main flying beings in the Age of Dinosaurs, coexisted with their land-living relatives for 160 million years and eventually went extinct together with the last dinosaurs. Like about dinosaurs, there are several issues about ptero-portrayals in media. They go far further than simple [[Anachronism Stew]] and [[Misplaced Wildlife]], they regard ''every'' pterosaurian biological feature. Here were fall in the [[Critical Research Failure]] field,and it’s easy to imagine [[Somewhere a Palaeontologist Is Crying|ptero-scientists cry]] [[Wall Banger
* In fiction, these "reptiles" usually act as [[Giant Flyer|air-born terrors]] to menace humans and/or other animals, usually grabbing them with improbable eagle-like feet and magically strong enough to lift and carry their victims in flight, often giving them to their nestlings just like eagles. In [[Real Life]] pterosaurs had very weak legs with non-opposable digits and caught their food with their mouth instead. And [[Science Marches On|it has been recently discovered]] they didn't have any nestlings to feed: pterosaurs reproduced like lizards, burying and abandoning their soft eggs, until the hatchlings (termed "flaplings" by some paleontologists) emerged, strong-boned and ready to fly on their own.
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Four main groups of sea reptiles can be recognized in media: Plesiosaurs, Ichthyosaurs, Mosasaurs, and Pliosaurs. In [[Real Life]] there were other sea-going reptiles in the Mesozoic, but being less-impressive than the former, they don’t gain much attention. (except for the giant turtle ''Archelon'', that shows up occasionally). As with most prehistoric animals, only the largest will be mentioned from each group: ''Elasmosaurus'' for Plesiosaurs, ''Liopleurodon'' for Pliosaurs, and ''Tylosaurus'' for Mosasaurs --with the exception of the Ichthyosaurs. Ichthyosaurs will be represented only by ''Ichthyosaurus'' which was actually small for the group, though that won't stop them writers from making it bigger. However, in old media ''Plesiosaurus'' is frequent as well, even though was a very small member of the eponymous group (but don’t worry: it is shown regularly oversized as well).
Interestingly, unlike dinosaurs, marine reptiles were ''already'' well-known to science at the beginning of the 19th century. Their fossil record is overall wealthier and better-preserved than that of the dinosaurs. Significantly, the very ''first'' “antediluvian” reptiles entered in narrative media were not dinosaurs, but the Ichthyosaur and the Plesiosaur which battle each other in the novel ''[[Journey to
Possibly thanks to Verne, the battle against prehistoric marine reptiles has become stock in paleo-art and pop-culture, just like its land-placed equivalent "Carnivorous vs Herbivorous Dinosaur". One of the opponents is always a long-necked Plesiosaur, while the other may alternate between a Mosasaur, an oversized ''Ichthyosaurus'', or a Pliosaur. In these portraits, ichthyosaurs, mosasaurs, and pliosaurs tend to be used indifferently, often confused each other and portrayed as generic “giant swimmers”.
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