New fossils provide the missing links between smaller, earlier flying reptiles and the later massive pterosaurs. Initial pterosaurs had wingspans of about 6 feet, while later species measured as much as 32 feet across. Paleontologists describe the fossil of the new species, Skiphosoura bavarica, in a Current Biology report.
Splitting Flying Reptiles
Although Skiphosoura appears to be about the same size as early pterosaurs, it holds some important anatomical differences. Paleontologists had long split flying reptiles into two groups: non-pterodactyloids and pterodactyloids.
