Few non-dinosaurian animals are as invocative of the Mesozoic as the pterosaurs, the ancient flying reptiles and first flying vertebrates to have ever existed. Pop-cultural "pterodactyls" may look nothing like the ancient flying animals, creatures as sophisticated as the dinosaurs and mammals, but these inaccurate depictions still capture an omnipresent feel of these animals: no primeval scenery is complete without pterosaurs flapping around.