An unknown ground-dwelling reptile found in a Scottish Sandstone 100 years ago was discovered to be part a famous flying family. Tiny Scleromochlus taylori was a close relative for pterosaursResearchers report online on October 5th about, the winged reptiles which lived alongside dinosaurs. Nature.
The finding lends support to the idea that pterosaurs — the first vertebrates to master powered flight — evolved from small, two-legged, speedy ancestors.
This study provides an answer to a long-standing mystery. S. taylori? “It all boils down to the preservation of this animal,” says Davide Foffa, a paleontologist at National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh.
S. tayloriIt is based entirely on seven individuals that were preserved in fossils found in rocks in 1907 which have proven difficult to interpret. For one thing, there aren’t any actual bones, just impressions on the surrounding rock; the bones have long since winnowed away. These fossils have been used in numerous studies to describe and redescribe the creature. These analyses also suggested that the creature could be a shrew. S. taylorihe was the closest relative to dinosaurs, pterosaurs or even crocodilian ancestors.
Foffa states that it was evident that the tiny reptile lived around 230 million years ago and had very unusual body proportions. At less than 20 centimeters long, “it would fit on the palm of your hand,” but its head was very large for its body. It had a long neck and hind limbs that were short. But that rough outline isn’t enough to identify the creature’s closest relatives; that requires finer details of skull, jaw, body proportions and more.
Foffa used a noninvasive scanning technology called Microcomputed Tomography with his colleagues to collect previously unaccessible information from the fossils. The data included its length, foot bones size, jawline shape and even its tailbone.
Some of the creature’s features — like its giant head — are similar to pterosaurs. Others, like the orientation of its lower jaw, aren’t much like pterosaurs at all, the team found.S. taylori didn’t have any identifiable adaptations for flying, jumping or living in trees, the team says. It was more likely a runner.
One of the most important new insights is about the structure of the creature’s femur. It was remarkably similar to pterosaurs, as well as a group ground-dwelling reptile called lagerpetids. Foffa explains that the structure of the bottom of Femur bone’s connecting to the lower leg is a characteristic of lagerpetids.
All of the data suggests that the creature is almost certain to be a lagerpetid. Though lagerpetids didn’t fly, they and pterosaurs Recent research has confirmed that they are very closely relatedThe pterosauromorphs are a group that includes. Pterosauromorphs shared a common ancestor that was probably a small and fast-running reptile.
S. tayloriThis lagerpetid may have features similar to both and evolved soon after the split of the two pterosauromorph lines. That it turned out to have so many features present in both was “kind of a surprise,” says Martín Ezcurra, a paleontologist at the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences in Buenos Aires who was not involved in the new study. However, the results of the reanalysis of fossils led to the conclusion that S. tayloriHe says that he was an early lagerpetid.
Pterosaurs were first recorded in fossil records around 220 millions years ago. Their anatomy remains distinct. Their bodies can accommodate huge heads.They also had super-elongated fourth fingers that were part of their wings.SN: 10/12/10). S. tayloriEzcurra points out that while it has a large head, its hands are still very small. “We’re missing several intermediate forms in between that bear features related to active flight,” he says. But this new analysis of old fossils does bring scientists just a little bit closer to the time when pterosaurs’ Unique and highly flight-adaptive bodiesIt began to evolveSN: 7/22/21).
It’s difficult to say what such a proto-pterosaur might look like, says Hans Sues, a paleontologist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., who was not involved in the new study. “Scleromochlus is a tiny animal, and it is conceivable that a related small-bodied form climbed around in trees and eventually gave rise to a proto-pterosaur — perhaps through an intermediate gliding stage.”
