A group of international scientists has announced the discovery of fossils belonging to two new species of pterosaurs that existed 120 million years ago in a region of northeastern China.
In a report published in the journal “Nature” on October 5, Dr. Aleksandr Kenno from the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) stated that the newly found organisms belong to the group of flying reptiles, which were previously only discovered in Europe.
This new discovery adds to the foundation for scientists to explore hypotheses regarding the relationship between birds and flying reptiles. The fossils of these two species were found in western Liaoning Province (China), an area where scientists have also uncovered fossils of numerous dinosaur, fish, and ancient bird species.
Flying reptiles lived between 65 million and 228 million years ago. They varied in size from as small as a bird to as large as an animal with a wingspan of up to 18 meters. They had hollow bones, slender bodies, large brains, crests, and long beaks. Scientists previously believed that these creatures glided on air currents, but research has shown that some larger species could actually fly, and some had feathers covering their entire bodies like birds.
Based on the fossils, Dr. Kenno and his colleagues discovered the distribution of flying reptiles and birds in the western region of Liaoning Province. They concluded that birds outnumber flying reptiles and could inhabit areas deep inland, while flying reptiles predominated in coastal regions.
