Weekend/ ARTS & MORE: Winged reptiles--the age of flying monsters

With its 10-meter wingspan, Quetzalcoatlus looks like a vicious and scary monster in a new Godzilla movie. However, the monster is not an imaginary creature--it is a pterosaur. The largest known flying creature ever, it existed in the late Cretaceous Period, about 65 million years ago.

"Pterosaurs: Rulers of the Skies in the Age of Dinosaurs," now on exhibit at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) in Tokyo through Aug. 13, explores the wonders of the flying monsters that dominated the skies while dinosaurs flourished on land from the late Triassic Period to the end of the Cretaceous Period (about 220 to 65 million years ago).

Using the latest technologies, the exhibition unveils how they developed the ability to fly and just how unique they were. There are about 100 displays, including fossils that are shown for the first time.

Though pterosaurs are often mistaken for dinosaurs, they are flying reptiles, as pterosaur means "winged lizard." Actually, they were the first flying vertebrate, preceding birds by about 70 million years.

With their elongated beaks, necks and crests, the frightening creatures almost have an avant-garde look.

Their huge wings, which made it possible for the pterosaurs to fly, were formed by an extraordinarily developed fourth finger of the forelimb and a membrane.

They flew through the sky skillfully, with smaller species flapping their wings up and down, while the larger pterosaurs glided, taking advantage of ascending winds.

The flying reptiles could also fold up their wings and walk on the ground using four feet.

To be able to fly, the original reptiles trimmed their weight: their bones became hollow. Hollow bones don't leave very good fossils, however, and there are fewer pterosaurs preserved in good condition than their land-based cousins.

The earliest pterosaurs, which appeared in the late Triassic Period, were as small as pigeons. They gradually diversified into various species, spreading over wide areas of the Earth.

During the late Cretaceous Period, the emergence of birds drove many smaller species of pterosaurs to extinction by stealing their habitats. Only a few large species of pterosaurs were left, including Quetzalcoatlus, which alas didn't survive the mass extinction at the end of the period.

The highlight of the exhibition is a complete replica skeleton of Quetzalcoatlus hung from the ceiling. Its fossils were found in Big Bend National Park in Texas in 1971. These kings of the sky were able to fly 50 to 60 kilometers an hour, and though they had wingspans of up to 10 meters, they only weighed about 70 kilograms.

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"Pterosaurs: Rulers of the Skies in the Age of Dinosaurs" is on view through Aug. 31 at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) near Telecom Center Station on the Yurikamome Line.

Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (until 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays in August; until 8 p.m. Aug. 13-17). Closed July 8 and July 15.

1,300 yen for adults; 900 yen for those under 19; free for preschoolers.

Call the museum at 03-3570-9151 or visit . (IHT/Asahi: July 4,2008)