Was Darwinopterus the Pterosaur “Missing Link?”
Was Darwinopterus the Pterosaur “Missing Link?” Wednesday October 14, 2009#spacer{clear:left}#abc #sidebar{margin-top:1.5em}zSB(3,3) There were some big differences between the pterosaurs of the Jurassic period and their Cretaceous descendants: the earlier flying reptiles tended to be tiny, small-beaked and long-tailed, while later behemoths like Pteranodon and Quetzalcoatlus had enormous beaks and wingspans, relatively short tails, and could occasionally walk as well as fly. Now, a research team at the University of Leicester in England has announced the existence of what may have been a transitional pterosaur, Darwinopterus (“Darwin wing,” named after the discoverer of the theory of evolution). Why is Darwinopterus (over 20 fossils of which have been f
#spacer{clear:left}#abc #sidebar{margin-top:1.5em}zSB(3,3) There were some big differences between the pterosaurs of the Jurassic period and their Cretaceous descendants: the earlier flying reptiles tended to be tiny, small-beaked and long-tailed, while later behemoths like Pteranodon and Quetzalcoatlus had enormous beaks and wingspans, relatively short tails, and could occasionally walk as well as fly. Now, a research team at the University of Leicester in England has announced the existence of what may have been a transitional pterosaur, Darwinopterus (“Darwin wing,” named after the discoverer of the theory of evolution). Why is Darwinopterus (over 20 fossils of which have been found in northeastern China) considered to be a transitional form? Well, ac
