Pterosaurs evolved active flight more than 230 million years ago, and the discovery of Melkamterpateko in Argentina suggests that pterosaurs originated in inland habitats earlier and fed on insects. This discovery expands our understanding of pterosaur evolution, especially in the Southern Hemisphere.

Reconstruction of Melkamterpateko. Source: Palaeo-Artist: Pedro Andrade

About 230 million years ago, some 80 million years before the first birds appeared, their distant relatives, the pterosaurs, took to the skies as the first vertebrates capable of active flight. These early flyers achieved powered flapping flight using wing membranes, which were supported primarily by the unusually long fourth digit of their hands.

Over time, pterosaurs perfected their flight abilities through evolution. Early species usually had short wings and long tails. However, a more advanced group called pterosaurs developed elongated wings and shorter tails, improving their flight efficiency. This group included all Cretaceous pterosaurs and gave rise to some of the largest flying creatures in history, such as Quetzalcoatlus, which had a wingspan of more than 12 meters.

Melkamterpateko (right) in Chubut Province, Argentina. Image source: Oliver Rauhut The transition from early pterosaurs to more advanced pterosaurs occurred during the Jurassic period, and the first members of this group appear in the fossil record approximately 160 million years ago in the Late Jurassic. However, our knowledge of pterosaur evolution during this period is mainly based on fossils from the Northern Hemisphere, as fossils from the Southern Hemisphere continents are very scarce.

Professors Alexandra Fernandes and Oliver Rauhut from the Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology and Geology (SNSB-Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie and Geologie) introduced a new pterosaur from the late Early Jurassic in Chubut Province, Argentina (about 178 million years ago). The new species, named Melkamterpateko, shows some characteristics of advanced pterosaurs but is about 15 million years older than its oldest known relatives. Apparently, the origin of this type of pterosaur is much older than currently recognized.

The location where Melkamter was found is also remarkable. The new species comes from an inland environment - this pterosaur lived far from the nearest coast. Most known Jurassic pterosaurs come from marine environments, where they apparently lived near the sea and probably fed primarily on fish and other marine life. Instead, Melkamter likely fed primarily on insects. This occurrence in an inland environment and a preference for non-aquatic prey supports the recently proposed idea that pterosaurs may have originated in this environment.

"The early specialization of pterosaurs on highly mobile prey such as flying insects may have been one of the reasons for the evolutionary success of pterosaurs," explains Alexandra Fernandes, a researcher at the Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology and Geology and first author of the study. "This discovery not only highlights how little we still know about pterosaurs in the Southern Hemisphere, but also shows the potential of the southern hemisphere continent to improve our understanding of pterosaur evolution."

Compiled from /scitechdaily