Discover the peculiar flying lizard hanging upside down on a tree like a bat in China

Many people compare pterosaurs to modern bats and think they have the same behavior.

Many people believe that pterosaurs will also have strong claws to make them can hang upside down in the tree, but in reality that is not true, because through fossil samples of the species. The pterosaurs were discovered, we know that their limbs and toes protrude in the same direction and make their claws incapable of being held, so those claws are not capable of supporting. for hanging upside down the body like a modern bat.

But not all, archaeologists in China recently discovered a new species of pterosaur that lived in the Mesozoic era and went against the view we still know about lizards. ancient flight. They are called Vesperopterylus .

This species of pterosaur lived during the Mesozoic era.

Jehol Biota encompasses all living things - the ecosystem - of northeast China between 133 and 120 million years ago and is also the most famous source of Chinese paleontological fossils because it is not here. Only a large number of furry dinosaurs were found, but many new species of pterosaurs were found.

In the fossils of the Mesozoic era (Mesozoic) in Lamadong Town, Jianchang District, Liaoning Province, paleontologists have found a stone tablet containing animal fossils remains intact. When they looked at this fossil, they discovered that the animal had an unusually long elongated foot bone and could identify it as a fossil of an ancient pterizard.

Geographic location of the fossils found.

Fossils are preserved on slate.

Fossils found from Lamadong town have attracted the attention of many paleontologists because of their special characteristics. A team of researchers from the Beijing Museum of Nature and the Geological Institute of the Chinese Academy of Geoscience have studied the pterizard fossil on schist.

In 2017, paleontologists in China named the pterizard sunset . The research paper was published in the "Special issue of the London Geological Society" published in 2017. The article is titled "The new pterosaur has a frog mouth from Jianchang, Liaoning Province, China." Quốc ".

In this paper, paleontologists named the pterosaur Vesperopterylus, with the full name Vesperopterylus lamadongensis.

The reason why it is called the sunset pterizard is because researchers think that it will go for food at dusk like a bat. The direct evidence that they and bats have similar habits comes from their hind legs.

The pterosaur has four fingers on its hind legs, with the thumb and other three fingers growing in different directions and capable of holding. This is the first species in the pterizard family to have such ability.

Imagine: sunset pterizard groups use their hind legs to hang their bodies on tree branches or a stone wall. When the lizards fly out to get food, they will likely act in large groups together like bats, and the sight must be spectacular!

This pterosaur has four toes on its hind legs.

They will likely act in large groups together like bats.

Unlike birds or insects, the bat's skin wings are not strong enough to easily lift them from the ground to the air. Therefore, when resting, bats always choose a high position so that when they need to fly, they just drop themselves, taking advantage of the air resistance to support the takeoff. In addition, when winter comes, the bat also hangs upside down to hibernate, thus reducing contact with the cold cave. Or there are some bats that can bury their heads and bodies into the winged membranes, and with the soft, thick fur growing on them, it can effectively separate them from the cold air outside.

These pterosaurs are unique in that they can hold claws clawing together.

Sunset pterizard is a very small pterizard, its body length is 50 cm and its wingspan is less than 1 meter. These pterosaurs are unique in that they can hold claws clinging together and have a short, curved tail. In addition to these features, they are more distinctive than other pterosaurs in that their skull is very round as well as has a flat head and its mouth is full of small, pointed teeth. Sunset pterodactyl has a short neck and body, but its forelegs are extremely developed compared to the body.

Three-dimensional recovery of the sunset pterizard.

Paleontologists believe that with such a body size, their main food is insects. In addition, Chinese archaeologists also discovered a species of pterosaur with similar skull structure, but about the legs and ability to hang up like the bat bat, so far, Vesperopterylus is still the only species.

Their main food is insects.

1. Hundreds of 120 million-year-old pterosaur eggs were discovered in China
2. Discovered fossils of the first pterosaur in Cuba