Pterosaurs could fly immediately after birth, study shows



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An article published Wednesday in the Royal Society B report states that prehistoric reptiles could fly immediately after birth – what researchers claim that no other vertebrate, living or extinct, has been able to make.
Previously, scientists thought that pterosaurs could fly only when they had reached their maximum size, like birds or bats. But this theory was based on fossilized embryos discovered in China and whose wings were poorly developed, according to a press release concerning research.

For this study, David Unwin, paleobiologist at the University of Leicester, and Charles Deeming, a zoologist at the University of Lincoln, collected evidence from 19 embryos of pterosaurs belonging to four different species.

The two scientists compared pterosaur embryos to data on the prenatal growth of crocodiles and birds and found that embryos still had a long way to go before they were ready to hatch.

"Our technique shows that pterosaurs were different from birds and bats and that comparative anatomy may well reveal new ways of developing extinct species," Deeming said in a statement.

New pterosaur embryos have been found in China and Argentina, allowing scientists to use more precise approaches to analyze them. They discovered that these pterosaur embryos died just before hatching, providing a much clearer picture of what animals would be like in life.

When they examined the pterosaur embryos, they realized that the bones of the reptile wing, the number IV, hardened much faster than in other flying reptiles. This offered more evidence that pterosaurs could fly from birth.

And for a pterosaur baby, flying was not just a way to get around. It was a way to survive, said the authors.

Other animals like birds and bats can take their time when it comes to making the first jump. According to the study, pterosaurs would probably have had to fly immediately to escape the jaws of meat-eating dinosaurs. But their ability to fly is also the reason why many of them died at a young age.

"Theoretically, what pterosaurs did, grow and fly, is impossible, but they did not know it, so they did it anyway," Unwin said in a statement.

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