A team of scientists from Great Britain reported the discovery of a new species of pterosaur in the sediments of the Kilmaluagh Formation on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. The discovery showed that the evolution of these extinct flying lizards followed a more complex pattern than previously thought.

The find was attributed to pterosaur treasures darwinoptera. Specimens are the partial skeleton of a single animal, including shoulder, wing, leg and spine bones. They were collected by hand using special tools. Scientists were able to remove some of the fragments from the rock after being soaked in acetic acid and further processed. However, many bones that were completely “grown” into the stone could only be examined thanks to computerized tomography and subsequent three-dimensional visualization.

The authors of the discovery (experts from the Natural History Museum of London and colleagues from the Universities of Bristol, Leicester and Liverpool) emphasized that such findings are very rare from a palaeontological point of view. The specimens examined are only the fourth associated pterosaur skeleton from the Middle Jurassic period discovered to date. This, along with the lack of fossilized skeletons, complicates attempts to study the developmental history of early pterosaurs.

Discoveries made by scientists show that all the main hoards of Jurassic pterosaurs were formed before the end of the Early Jurassic period (174 million years ago), that is, much earlier than assumed. Additionally, the finding showed that this particular group of pterosaurs existed on Earth for more than 25 million years, before the Late Jurassic. Moreover, at the same time as the first pterosaurs, there were also flying dinosaurs that we know as birds today.

The new look has been named ceoptera evansae. End -ptera It means “wing” in Latin and the first part of the word is derived from Welsh. Cheo, “mist” (a reference to the ancient name of the Isle of Skye, called the Isle of Mist). The second part was based on the name of Professor Susan E. Evans (Susan E. Evans). He devoted many years to paleontological research, especially on the Isle of Skye.

According to one of the authors of the work he published Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology opening Cheoptera It helps narrow down the time frame of many important events in the evolution of flying reptiles. The appearance of such an animal in Great Britain during the Middle Jurassic period was a complete surprise to scientists, because most of its close relatives lived in China.

“This suggests that a more advanced group of flying reptiles, including Ceoptera evansae, emerged earlier than we thought and spread rapidly across much of the world,” said Professor Paul Barrett from the Natural History Museum.

Paleobiologist Liz Martin-Silverstone (Liz Martin-Silverstone) added the period it belongs to from the University of Bristol CheopteraIt is one of the most important in the evolution of pterosaurs. The skeletal samples brought researchers closer to understanding where and when more advanced species of these ancient lizards appeared.

The presence of closely related pterosaurs in remote areas such as the eastern and western edges of Laurasia suggests that they were well adapted to flight. This is important because pterosaurs, due to their huge size and mass (up to 200 kilograms and a wingspan of up to one and a half dozen meters), still cause fierce debate among scientists about how they could actually fly.

It is also unclear why no flying creatures approached these sizes after the fall of the Chicxulub asteroid. As it turns out, pterosaurs had some unique features that made them very effective fliers. However, it is not yet clear which specific features this may be related to.