Babies pterosaurs aged 150 million with broken wings help resolve a mystery of old dinosaur

A team of paleontologists recently resolved a cold 150 million year old affair involving an old lagoon full of baby pterosaurs. Thanks to the discovery of two fossils of perfectly preserved pterosaurs, we now know that their death came to the most dangerous and unpredictable giant in the mesozoic era – Mother Nature.

According to a new study in Current biologyThe pair of baby pterosaurs encountered their tragic end probably due to a violent storm which broke their underdeveloped wings and sent them to plunge into the lagoon below. Although sad, the circumstances of their death have helped preserve these ultra-rare fossils allowing scientists to know more about prehistoric ecosystems.

“Pterosaurs had incredibly light skeletons. The hollow and thin walls are ideal for theft but terrible for fossilization. The chances of preserving are already slim and find a fossil that tells you how the animal is even more rare, “said the main author Rab Smyth, from the University of Leicester, in a press release.

How are pterosaur babies dead?

These extraordinary fossils of 150 million 150 million are part of the property of the Pterodactylus family. With wings of only eight inches, they are also among the smallest fossils of pterosaurs never discovered. Their size also suggests that at the time of their death, the pterosaurs probably only had weeks or months.

After finishing an autopsy on the fossils of the pterosaurus, the paleontologists discovered that they each had an identical injury on the opposite wings: a fracture of the clean humerus. This type of fracture is commonly observed in injuries caused by severe torsion, rather than a meeting with a predator or a collision with a rough surface.

Due to identical broken wing bones, scientists concluded that these baby pterosaurs had met a serious tropical storm during the flight. Their small bones still in development could not resist the powerful forces of the storm wind and the fracture sent them to a premature death.

Learn more: New species of pterosaurs lived 100 million years ago with a scale of 15 feet

Resolve a mystery of secular dinosaur

Pterosaurs were found in Solnhofen limestones in southern Germany. This location is famous for sheltering a large collection of young fossils in Pterosaurus, which is a rarity in paleontology. One of the reasons why we often imagine the prehistoric land that is overrun with massive dinosaurs is that it is easier for the greatest fossils to survive over time. Solnhofen limestones are a place where small fossils have been remarkably kept for millions of years.

The overwhelming quantity of young fossils of pterosaurs present in Solnhofen limestones has long perplexed scientists. But the discovery of baby pterosaurs with broken wings finally responded to this centuries -old mystery.

“For centuries, scientists thought that Solnhofen’s lagoon ecosystems were dominated by small pterosaurs. But we now know that this view is deeply biased,” Smyth said in the press release. “Many of these pterosaurs were not at all from the lagoon. Most are inexperienced juveniles who probably lived on the neighboring islands which were unfortunately taken in powerful storms. ”

Rather than the area being a hotspot for small pterosaurs, it is more likely that all the fossils found come from creatures that have perished for frequent powerful storms. While the greatest pterosaurs could successfully navigate in the strong winds of storms, the little pterosaurs would not have been so lucky.

Instead, the sudden storm would lead them into the waters of the lagoon where they drowned, sank towards the bottom and would quickly be engulfed in the Limy mud. It was this almost instant burial that made it possible to preserve incredible fossils and the revolutionary autopsy that took place millions of years later.

Learn more: The new species of flying lizards fill the evolutionary gap for pterosaurs

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