Pterosaurs and Pterodactyls in Cryptozoology

Reports of living pterosaurs — flying reptiles thought to have gone extinct 66 million years ago — emerge from scattered corners of the world, from Papua New Guinea’s “Ropen” to remote parts of Africa and even occasional U.S. backroads. Witnesses describe large, leathery-winged creatures with long tails and sometimes luminous underbellies soaring silently across twilight skies. Scientists attribute such sightings to misidentified birds, bats, or optical illusions during low-light conditions. Nevertheless, these stories persist, fueled by the tantalizing idea that prehistoric skies might not be entirely empty. Pterosaurs in cryptozoology symbolize perhaps the most dramatic wish of all: that deep time still leaks into the present, and that something truly ancient could yet wheel above our heads.