How pterosaurs took flight

CLEVELAND — Extinct flying reptiles known as pterosaurs — especially large ones, which had wingspans as broad as a single-engine plane — may have taken flight by leapfrogging into the air, new analyses suggest.

Pterosaurs, a group that includes pterodactyls, lived in the era of the dinosaurs. Like modern birds and many other animals, pterosaurs are tetrapods, or creatures with four limbs.