“We knew that there was the potential to learn more about Scleromochlus because of some tests we did on unprepared specimens of another fossil from the same area,” says lead author and National Museums Scotland paleontologist Davide Foffa. The enigmatic fossil had to wait for technology to catch up to it. But experts couldn’t agree, partly because the fossil’s poor preservation hindered a close look at the telltale features that would resolve the debate. And subtle anatomical clues in the jaw also indicated that Scleromochlus was closer to early pterosaurs than dinosaurs or other Triassic reptiles. The long legs and narrow feet of Scleromochlus, especially, resembled the legs and feet of pterosaurs. The reptile was lightly-built, with longer hind legs than front legs, and over time paleontologists started to suspect that this little runner was an early forerunner of pterosaurs. In 1907, paleontologist Arthur Smith Woodward described a small reptile from the Triassic rocks of Scotland he named Scleromochlus taylori. The initial discovery that would help bring pterosaur origins into focus was made over a century ago. The paleontologists report their findings today in Nature. Using high definition CT scans, an international team of researchers has revealed that an agile Triassic reptile shared many traits in common with the flying saurians. But what did the ancestor of pterosaurs look like? A new analysis of a controversial fossil that is more than 100 years old has helped to resolve the longstanding paleontological puzzle. Flapping with wings made of a membrane stretched over ludicrously-elongated fourth fingers, these flying reptiles filled the skies between 66 and 220 million years ago in a range of body sizes from sparrow to Cessna. Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to take to the air.
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