General
Pterosaurs evolved from small, wingless reptiles called lagerpetids, fossils suggest
Pterosaurs may have dominated the skies for 150 million years, but how they gained their wings has been a mystery.
Key points:
- Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight, and lived during the age of the dinosaurs
- How flight evolved in pterosaurs has been unknown, largely due to meagre fossil record
- New research suggests two-legged, wingless reptiles called lagerpetids were pterosaur ancestors
Now, recently unearthed fossils may help fill a gap in the flying predators’ family tree, according to a study published in Nature today.
The skulls and skeletons are of a group of ancient reptiles — lagerpetids — that trotted around the supercontinent Pangea between 237 and 210 million years ago.
These two-legged, wingless…
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