Scientists just discovered the mother lode of pterosaur eggs and they are over the moon
Alexander Kellner
Scientists found hundreds of pterosaur bones at the surface of the site (Alexander Kellner  Museu Nacional/UFRJ).
âThis is by far the most exciting discovery that I know of â said  Alexander Kellner   co-author of the new study and paleontologist at the National Museum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
And  Kellner  isnât some newbie to pterosaur discoveries.  He âs been studying these ancient animals for more than 30 years and has personally been a part of naming or describing more than 20 species. This includes the species in question  Hamipterus tianshanensis  which  Kellner   Wang  and a team of their colleagues discovered in 2014.
With a wingspan of approximately 11 feet  an adult H. tianshanensis may have been something like an albatross. You know  if albatrosses had large crests running the lengths of their heads and spikelike teeth. This species does not appear to have had feathers   Kellner  said.
Probably a fish-eater  H. tianshanensis inhabited hot and dry environments but would have buried its eggs in the sand and vegetation found on the shores of lakes or rivers. This is also likely why so many eggs have been found together.  Kellner  suspects recent storms caused torrential flooding which unearthed the eggs and washed them into the fossil record  along with other  older pterosaurs that fell victim to the deluge.
The paper says that H. tianshanensis hatchlings wouldnât have been able to fly immediately because several of the eggs the team examined showed wing bones that were less developed than expected. This may have meant that baby pterosaurs would have spent some time on the ground hunting insects and generally trying not to be eaten before learning how to take wing.  Kellner  even speculated that the pterosaur females and maybe even males would have stuck around to feed the hatchlings to help get them through such a precarious stage.
Pterosaurs ran the gamut from the gigantic  aircraftlike Quetzalcoatlus all the way down to animals about the size of a sparrow  such as Nemicolopterus. Some had the long  pointy snouts we typically associate with the flying reptiles. Others boasted wild and crazy crests  which may have been used to attract the opposite sex  as has been suggested with H. tianshanensis. And still other pterosaur species had short  squat skulls more like  that of a frog   Chiappe said. (Albeit  a very scary frog.)
Pterosaurs were the very first animals with backbones to master powered flight   Kellner  said. How they did what they did  and did it for as long as they did  is just one of the mysteries he and his colleagues hope to solve.
Scientists found hundreds of pterosaur bones at the surface of the site ( [TGT]   Museu Nacional/UFRJ).
âThis is by far the most exciting discovery that I know of â said   [TGT]    co-author of the new study and paleontologist at the National Museum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
And  Kellner  isnât some newbie to pterosaur discoveries.  He âs been studying these ancient animals for more than 30 years and has personally been a part of naming or describing more than 20 species. This includes the species in question  Hamipterus tianshanensis  which  Kellner   Wang  and a team of their colleagues discovered in 2014.
With a wingspan of approximately 11 feet  an adult H. tianshanensis may have been something like an albatross. You know  if albatrosses had large crests running the lengths of their heads and spikelike teeth. This species does not appear to have had feathers   Kellner  said.
Probably a fish-eater  H. tianshanensis inhabited hot and dry environments but would have buried its eggs in the sand and vegetation found on the shores of lakes or rivers. This is also likely why so many eggs have been found together.  Kellner  suspects recent storms caused torrential flooding which unearthed the eggs and washed them into the fossil record  along with other  older pterosaurs that fell victim to the deluge.
The paper says that H. tianshanensis hatchlings wouldnât have been able to fly immediately because several of the eggs the team examined showed wing bones that were less developed than expected. This may have meant that baby pterosaurs would have spent some time on the ground hunting insects and generally trying not to be eaten before learning how to take wing.  Kellner  even speculated that the pterosaur females and maybe even males would have stuck around to feed the hatchlings to help get them through such a precarious stage.
Pterosaurs ran the gamut from the gigantic  aircraftlike Quetzalcoatlus all the way down to animals about the size of a sparrow  such as Nemicolopterus. Some had the long  pointy snouts we typically associate with the flying reptiles. Others boasted wild and crazy crests  which may have been used to attract the opposite sex  as has been suggested with H. tianshanensis. And still other pterosaur species had short  squat skulls more like  that of a frog   Chiappe said. (Albeit  a very scary frog.)
Pterosaurs were the very first animals with backbones to master powered flight   Kellner  said. How they did what they did  and did it for as long as they did  is just one of the mysteries he and his colleagues hope to solve.