The finding of a well-preserved fossil skeleton of this recently discovered species, Skiphosoura bavarica, closes a significant knowledge gap on the evolution of pterosaurs, which were crucial members of ecosystems throughout the dinosaur era.
About 147 million years ago, during the end of the Jurassic Period, Skiphosoura lived.
It is an anatomical transition between the short-tailed pterosaurs that would eventually grow into the giants of the Cretaceous, such Quetzalcoatlus, whose wingspan surpassed that of an F-16 fighter, and the long-tailed and comparatively small ones that began about 80 million years ago during the Triassic.
The study’s chief scientist, paleontologist David Hone of Queen Mary University of London, stated, “It’s of huge importance,” in a Monday journal article.
