The pterosaurs were able to fly at birth – but they were unlucky with the storms

Two fossils found in very young pterodacty Germany show the bones of wings, probably fractured in the middle of the flight due to violent tropical cyclones.

Apparently, the Pterodactile babies they were able to fly a few days after they broke out, but some of them ended Give the wings in storms Violent, throwing them into lagoons where they drowned.

Even at very early ages, these winged reptiles had wing structures adult -likewith the power and aerodynamic characteristics necessary for the flight.

Still, paleontologists have debated for decades if these They could really flyNote a.

This doubt has just been undone.

About 150 million years ago, a destructive tropical storm crossed the region that today corresponds to southern Germany and put a tragic end to life of two baby pterosaurs (Pterodactylus).

The bad weather created the ideal preservation conditionswhich allowed paleontologists to study the exceptional pair of fossils of the two babies.

The results of the study, which were presented in a published Friday in the magazine Current BiologyThey can help rewrite the understanding of the European ecosystems of the time and the animals that inhabited them.

The mesozoic era is often associated with giant dinosaurslike the Tyrannosaurus rex or Anomlosureusbut the landscape was shared by fauna of All dimensions.

As fossilization tends to favor larger creatures And more robust, it is often difficult to study the smallest speciesfragile and fine bones of this period.

This is not, however, the case of Solnhofen limestonein the southern Germany. Formerly covered by lagoons, the region provided an ideal rest For smaller mesozoic dinosaurs, including pterosaurs, explains.

But the place has intrigued paleontologists: Over the decades, hundreds of fossils of young pterosaurs were found, while the remains of Adults are much rarer.

When more mature specimens arise, they are almost always fragments of skulls or limbs, contrary to the trend observed in other deposits for the preservation of larger fossils.

“Pterosaurs had incredibly light skeletons. Hair bones and fine walls are ideal for the flight, but bad for fossilization,” explains Rab SmythPaleobiologist at the University of Leicester and Co -author of the study, in a statement published in.

“The hypotheses of preserving one are already reduced, and finding a fossil that tells us how the animal died It’s even rarer”Note the investigator.

A scam of luck

Still, paleontologists would be expected to have found more complete adult specimens. But Two recent discoveries They allowed SMYTH and your team gather more pieces of the puzzle.

About 80 kilometers south of Nuremberg, two PTEROSSaurs Complete Babiesarticulated and exceptionally preserved. The team nicknamed them, ironically, from Lucky I e Lucky II “Although Smyth has not identified them at the same time.”

“When the rab found Lucky we were enthusiastic, but we thought it was an isolated case. It would actually be representative? ”, Recalls David Unwinstudy co -author.

“A year later, when Rab discovered Lucky II, we realized it was no longer a coincidence, but evidence of how these animals were dying”He adds.

A more detailed analysis of the two fossils revealed that both had Lowering less than 20 centimeterswhich indicates that they had only a few days or weeks of life – Being the smallest pterosaurs ever excavated.

Interestingly, the two presented The same injury: a clean fracture in the humerus. In the case of Lucky I, on the left wing bone; In Lucky II, in law.

Death and discovery

Smyth and Unwin believe that The cause is clear: violent gusts of wind during a tropical storm will have twisted the members of these animalsrather than a collision with a hard surface.

Fatal fractures They thrown them in spiral against the lagoon, where they drowned quickly before they are buried in fine limestone sediments. These same turbulent conditions allowed almost perfect preservation of fossils, which remained intact for 150 million years.

The study authors argue that Lucky I and II They are not rare cases. On the contrary, similar storms may explain the abundance of fossils Young pterosaurs in Solnhofen, while adults had more resistance to face winds and heavy rains.

When they died, it was more likely their bodies float For days or weeks in the calm waters of the lagoon, eventually deposited only dispersed parts of decaying carcasses.

“For centuries, it was believed that the ecosystems of the Solnhofen lagoons were dominated by small pterosaurs. But we know today that this view is deeply skewed”Smyth said.

“Many of these pterosaurs Nor were they native to the lagoon. Most were inexperienced Juveniles who lived on nearby islands and unfortunately were caught by powerful storms. ”

Nature has never been indulgent – but at least the death of Lucky I and Lucky II left the investigators valuable recordsdiscovered millions of years later.