Pterosaurs may have feathers

According to a new study, extinct reptiles are also known as flying lizards with fur just like birds' feathers that resemble bats in bats.

Flying lizards , living during the dinosaurs, were the first vertebrate to fly. However, since there are currently no flying lizards, the majority of information about them is still unknown.

Previous research has shown that the skin of a flying lizard covered with fur-like fur called pycnofiber is often described as having a cilia-like nature. Now, scientists see these reptiles may also have feathers like feathers.

Feathers have been thought to be unique to birds and their dinosaur ancestors.

The researchers analyzed the fossils of two well-preserved short-tailed flying lizards, which lived about 160-165 million years ago in what is now China. They hypothesized that these flying lizards were covered by four different fibers.

A type of pycnofiber consists of hollow, curly fibers, like cilia, that grow on their heads, bodies, limbs and tails. The other three forms include curved strands, like the thread that grows on the wings and the heads that are branched like feathers today.

Spectroscopy shows that the chemical components of all pycnofiber are similar to modern feathers, while scanning electron microscopy reveals that they contain groups of pigments and are quite capable of being brilliant. The possible roles of these fibers may include insulation, aerodynamics, embellishment or camouflage, or use tactile receptors.

Feathers are the most complex structure decorated for vertebrate animals today and were thought to be unique to birds and their dinosaur ancestors. However, the evolutionary origin of feathers is still controversial. These new findings can prove the possibility that feathers evolved in the common ancestors of both flying lizards and dinosaurs, although the idea that feather structures evolved independently in both lines still quite reasonable.