Researchers have found a fossilized reptile in Scotland that lived during the era of the dinosaurs. According to a study published in the journal Nature, the reptile was closely related to an extinct group of flying reptiles known as pterosaurs. This tiny cat-sized creature, named Scleromoclus tellori, is thought to have existed on Earth about 240 to 210 million years ago, The Independent reported.
The researchers believed that their findings “could help shed more light on the origins of pterosaurs.” They are thought to be one of the first animals to have evolved powered flight, and researchers believe that Scleromoclus may hold an important place in its evolutionary tree.
Pterosaurs—the close cousins of dinosaurs—evolved as a separate branch of the reptile family tree. Some species were as large as fighter jet airplanes while others were as small as paper planes. Meanwhile, Scleromoclus was about 20 cm long and barely grew any larger.
It had a large head, a long tail, a short neck and a slender body. He stood on slender, slender legs. “Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight and for nearly two centuries, we didn’t know their closest relatives,” said Sterling Nesbitt, an associate professor at Virginia Tech in the US and one of the study’s authors.
The creature’s fossils were first discovered more than 100 years ago near the town of Elgin in the Morayshire region of northeastern Scotland. Unfortunately, the fossils in the sandstone were poorly preserved and scientists were unable to study their physical characteristics in detail.
The paleontologists involved in the study used CT scans — “an imaging technique commonly used by medical professionals to obtain internal images of the body” — to reconstruct the skeleton of Scleromoclus. Findings during the discovery suggest that the reptile may belong to the Pterosauromorpha – the group that includes pterosaurs and a group of smaller reptiles known as lagerpetids. The scientists believe their work supports the hypothesis that “pterosaurs evolved from small, likely two-legged ancestors.”
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