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.
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.
Non-pterodactyloids — the smaller, older version — sported short heads on short necks, a short bone in the wrist of the wing, a long fifth toe on the foot, and long tails. The later, larger pterodactyloids exhibited some features that seem opposite — large heads on long necks, a long wrist, short fifth toe and short tail.
More recently, paleontologists added an in-between species called darwinopterans. These flying lizards showed that ...
