They would have crashed to the ground." Like all early pterosaurs, Sordes had a long reptilian tail. By the time of Sordes' last hurrah at the end of the Jurassic, 144 million years ago ...

The study, recently published in the journal Current Biology, provides crucial insights into how pterosaurs transitioned from smaller, long-tailed forms to the massive, short-tailed giants of the ...

The discovery pushes back the evolution of advanced pterosaurs and also supports a surprising new setting for their evolution.

Named Skiphosoura bavarica—meaning “sword tail from Bavaria”—this fossil offers a rare glimpse into a transitional phase in pterosaur evolution ... compact necks, long tails, and ...

An artist’s rendering of Rhamphorhynchus, a long-tailed pterosaur. (Illustration by Mark Witton) (CN) — From humble beginnings, the pterosaurs, the first flying vertebrates, evolved to grow as big as ...

The pterosaurs that flew across prehistoric ... had the opposite–large heads on long necks, a long wrist, short fifth toe and short tail. Which parts of their body changed and when remained ...

Named Skiphosoura bavarica—meaning “sword tail from Bavaria”—this fossil offers a rare glimpse into a transitional phase in pterosaur evolution. Dr David Hone ... Early species were characterized by ...

In the course of their evolution, the flight capabilities of pterosaurs were improved. Whereas most early forms had still rather short wings and a long tail, the derived subgroup of ...

In the course of their evolution, the flight capabilities of pterosaurs improved. Whereas most early forms still had rather short wings and a long tail, the derived subgroup of pterodactyloids had ...