Student Discovers 200-Million-Year-Old Flying Reptile
Published:07 Mar.2024 Source:University of Bristol
Gliding winged-reptiles were amongst the ancient crocodile residents of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, researchers at the University of Bristol have revealed. Kuehneosaurs looked like lizards, but were more closely related to the ancestors of crocodilians and dinosaurs. The study, published today in Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, also records the presence of reptiles with complex teeth, the trilophosaur Variodens and the aquatic Pachystropheus.
Kuehneosaurs were small animals, which could fit neatly on the palm of a hand, and there were two species, one with extensive wings, the other with shorter wings, made from a layer of skin stretched over their elongated side ribs, which allowed them to swoop from tree to tree. When startled, or if they spotted a tasty insect flying by, they could launch themselves into the air, and land safely 10m away. Like the modern flying lizard Draco from southeast Asia, they most likely wandered about on the ground and climbed trees in search of insect prey.
The discovery was made by University of Bristol Masters student Mike Cawthorne, researching numerous reptile fossils from limestone quarries, which formed the biggest sub-tropical island at the time, called the Mendip Palaeo-island. It took a lot of work identifying the fossil bones, most of which were separate and not in a skeleton. Mike Cawthorne was able to compare the isolated jaws and other bones with more complete specimens from the other sites around Bristol.