150-Million-Year-Old Baby Pterosaurs With Broken Wings Help Solve a Centuries-Old Dinosaur Mystery
A team of paleontologists recently solved a 150-million-year-old cold case involving an ancient lagoon full of baby pterosaurs. Thanks to the discovery of two perfectly preserved pterosaur fossils, we now know that their deaths came at the hands of the most dangerous and unpredictable giant of the Mesozoic era – Mother Nature.
According to a new study in Current Biology, the pair of baby pterosaurs met their tragic end likely due to a violent storm that broke their underdeveloped wings and sent them plunging into the lagoon below. Although sad, the circumstances of their death helped preserve these ultra-rare fossils allowing scientists to learn more about prehistoric ecosystems.
“Pterosaurs had incredibly lightweight skeletons. Hollow, thin-walled bones are ideal for flight but terrible for fossilization. The odds of preserving one are already slim and finding a fossil that tells you how the animal died is even rarer,” said lead author Rab Smyth, from the University of Leicester, in a press release.
How Did the Baby Pterosaurs Die?
These extraordinary 150-million-year-old fossils are part of the well-known Pterodactylus family. With wingspans of only eight inches, they are also some of the smallest pterosaur fossils ever discovered. Their size also suggests that, at the time of their death, the pterosaurs were likely only weeks or months old.
Upon completing an autopsy on the pterosaur fossils, paleontologists discovered that they each had an identical injury on opposite wings: a clean humerus fracture. This type of fracture is commonly seen in injuries caused by severe twisting, rather than from an encounter with a predator or a collision with a rough surface.
Due to the identical broken wing bones, scientists concluded that these baby pterosaurs encountered a severe tropical storm while flying. Their small, still-developing bones couldn’t withstand the powerful forces of the storm’s wind and the fracture sent them plummeting to an untimely death.
Read More: New Pterosaur Species Lived 100 Million Years Ago with a 15-Foot Wingspan
Solving a Centuries-Old Dinosaur Mystery
The baby pterosaurs were found in the Solnhofen Limestones of southern Germany. This location is famous for being home to a large collection of young pterosaur fossils, which is quite a rarity in paleontology. One of the reasons we often picture prehistoric Earth being overrun with massive dinosaurs is because it is easier for larger fossils to survive over time. The Solnhofen Limestones are one location where smaller fossils have been remarkably preserved for millions of years.
The overwhelming amount of young pterosaur fossils present in the Solnhofen Limestones has long puzzled scientists. But the discovery of the baby pterosaurs with broken wings has finally answered this centuries-old mystery.
“For centuries, scientists believed that the Solnhofen lagoon ecosystems were dominated by small pterosaurs. But we now know this view is deeply biased,” said Smyth in the press release. “Many of these pterosaurs weren’t native to the lagoon at all. Most are inexperienced juveniles that were likely living on nearby islands that were unfortunately caught up in powerful storms.”
Rather than the area being a hotspot for small pterosaurs, it is more likely that all the fossils found are from creatures that perished during frequent powerful storms. While larger pterosaurs could successfully navigate the storms’ strong winds, small pterosaurs wouldn’t have been so lucky.
Instead, the sudden storm would drive them into the lagoon’s waters where they would drown, sink to the bottom, and be quickly engulfed in limy mud. It is this almost-instantaneous burial that allowed for the incredible preservation of their fossils and the groundbreaking autopsy that took place millions of years later.
Read More: New Flying Lizard Species Fills in Evolutionary Gap for Pterosaurs
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