Pterosaurs were incredible animals that lived over the course of millions of years. The most famous member of this family was the pterodactyl, but there were many others of various sizes over the years.
While paleontologists know a fair amount about these flying dinosaurs, there is not as much information as there is about many of the other dinosaurs. This is largely because of the fact that their bones were hollow and weaker than most other animals of the time. This was necessary to keep their weight down so that they could fly.
The bones of the pterosaurs did not become fossils very often, and when they did, they were almost always flattened out in the process.
Fortunately, a new specimen was found that had nearly every bone properly preserved without crushing. It is also from a new species called the Skiphosoura bavarica, which means ‘swordtail from Bavaria.’ This specimen was quite a bit smaller than its more famous descendants, but the bones do show how it would eventually evolve to become huge.
A study on these bones was published in Current Biology, revealing a lot of details about not only this particular specimen but also other members of the pterosaur family.
Dr. David Hone of Queen Mary University in London released a statement about the study and the fossils, in which he said:
“This is an incredible find. It really helps us piece together how these amazing flying animals lived and evolved. Hopefully this study will be the basis for more work in the future on this important evolutionary transition.”
The more that can be learned from these bones, the better the understanding that we will have when it comes to these ancient animals and how they evolved to what we see in the world today.
Pterosaurs were incredible.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about the mysterious “pyramids” discovered in Antarctica. What are they?