Fossil female pterosaur preserved with egg

[Waspie_Dwarf]

For fossil hunters, it represents one of those breakthrough moments.

A pterosaur has been found in China beautifully preserved with an egg.

The egg indicates this ancient flying reptile was a female, and that realisation has allowed researchers to sex these creatures for the first time.

Writing in Science magazine, the palaeontologists make some broad statements about gender differences in pterosaurs, including the observation that only males sported a head-crest.

David Unwin, a palaeobiologist in the Department of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, was part of the research team.

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[Boe]

The pictures are amazing! What a great find. Those guys are smaller than I always pictured.

[JGirl]

The pictures are amazing! What a great find. Those guys are smaller than I always pictured.

me too! very cool pics

[Prab]

"A pterosaur has been found in China beautifully preserved with an egg."

Scientists now and then find Beautifully preserved structures of bones of very old ancient animals which are thought to become extinct due to some Asteroid impact,,,

I mean how can this be possible ? If they were extincted by some Asteroid then how can scientists find these creatures well preserved and even well preserved egg??

I mean lol !

I would rather go with the other theory which says that these dinosaur time creatures became extinct due to the decreasing amount of Oxygen in the Earths atmosphere,,

So I would rather say they were rather chocked to death than burned to death,,

[HansBolman]

"A pterosaur has been found in China beautifully preserved with an egg."

Scientists now and then find Beautifully preserved structures of bones of very old ancient animals which are thought to become extinct due to some Asteroid impact,,,

I mean how can this be possible ? If they were extincted by some Asteroid then how can scientists find these creatures well preserved and even well preserved egg??

I mean lol !

I would rather go with the other theory which says that these dinosaur time creatures became extinct due to the decreasing amount of Oxygen in the Earths atmosphere,,

So I would rather say they were rather chocked to death than burned to death,,

Dinosaurs had been living and dying for millions of years before the asteroid hit (if it did). They werent all killed by one asteroid?

Edited January 21, 2011 by HansBolman

[xXHellkittiesXx]

@Twinkle Arora - That impact was said to happen in Mexico, on the other side of planet. In China they most likely got the fallout from the blast, dust etc. That maybe why they were "beautifully preserved", encased like the inhabitants of Pompeii.

[d e v i c e]

Yes and although many species of dinosaurs had become extinct due to all sorts of other factors previously, the majority of the ones which remained were wiped out due to the asteroid collision at the end of the cretaceous period I believe. Yes, very nice fossil.

Edited January 21, 2011 by Evilution13

[Pezmo]

I hope they get to work on creating Jurassic park.

[Moonshine]

That's really amazing

[WoIverine]

Any chance of DNA recovery from the egg?

[Keymaker]

This has to be one of the most important fossil finds ever right?

[Prab]

@Twinkle Arora - That impact was said to happen in Mexico, on the other side of planet. In China they most likely got the fallout from the blast, dust etc. That maybe why they were "beautifully preserved", encased like the inhabitants of Pompeii.

You have got a nice point there, maybe you are right,,

but as how did the dinosaurs in the caves and other shelters die ??

[ShadowSot]

You have got a nice point there, maybe you are right,,

but as how did the dinosaurs in the caves and other shelters die ??

A massive impact would have blotted out the sun, without the sun much of the plant life would have withered.

Many of the large animals would have died out, leaving the smaller animals to survive.

To, at around the same time the Volcanic tar pits in Siberia were active, massively affecting the atmosphere, probably tied to the impact though you can't be sure.

Dinosaurs lingered for a few thousand years after the impact before dieing out for good, excepting their descendants the birds, and even they didn't make it out unscathed, the toothed birds disappeared in the same mass extinction.

[Prab]

A massive impact would have blotted out the sun, without the sun much of the plant life would have withered.

Many of the large animals would have died out, leaving the smaller animals to survive.

To, at around the same time the Volcanic tar pits in Siberia were active, massively affecting the atmosphere, probably tied to the impact though you can't be sure.

Dinosaurs lingered for a few thousand years after the impact before dieing out for good, excepting their descendants the birds, and even they didn't make it out unscathed, the toothed birds disappeared in the same mass extinction.

Thanks for the details and I was also pointing out the same thing that only asteroid couldn't be responsible for the Mass extinction of the whole species as it is believed, multiple factors played a role in it.

[Copasetic]

Thanks for the details and I was also pointing out the same thing that only asteroid couldn't be responsible for the Mass extinction of the whole species as it is believed, multiple factors played a role in it.

No scientist is suggesting that the extinction of the dinosaurs (a group of animals, not a species) was an instantaneous event. There are some 300 known groups of dinosaurs that lived over a 165 million year period and the last of these groups went extinct 65 million years ago.

The picture painted, appears the dinosaurs were on their way out anyway and impact theory states that it was an impact that helped them along the way. What lends credence to this fact, is that other groups went extinct at the same time. Which would be evidence against a disease or unique event to that one group. I think the problem here, may lay with what you think you know about the extinction of the dinosaurs and what scientists are actually saying.

Edit: Remember there are continuous fossil beds from millions of years before the KT event, to millions of years after. Don't think, as many do, as the KT line as a thin pencil line. Its really a strata, albeit a thin one, it still would correspond to thousands of years (maybe even millions). And because fossilization is a rare process it makes it hard to tell, how long an extinction even occurred over. But, like Shadow points out, even if it was a catastrophic event (such as an asteroid) there would have still be survivors that could have lived for hundreds or even thousands of years afterwords. The kicker is that the event reduced genetic variability coupled with rapid, massive environmental changes, and you the recipe for extinction (which is never an instant event, but rather a slow, lingering death).

Edited January 21, 2011 by Copasetic

[Prab]

No scientist is suggesting that the extinction of the dinosaurs (a group of animals, not a species) was an instantaneous event. There are some 300 known groups of dinosaurs that lived over a 165 million year period and the last of these groups went extinct 65 million years ago.

The picture painted, appears the dinosaurs were on their way out anyway and impact theory states that it was an impact that helped them along the way. What lends credence to this fact, is that other groups went extinct at the same time. Which would be evidence against a disease or unique event to that one group. I think the problem here, may lay with what you think you know about the extinction of the dinosaurs and what scientists are actually saying.

Edit: Remember there are continuous fossil beds from millions of years before the KT event, to millions of years after. Don't think, as many do, as the KT line as a thin pencil line. Its really a strata, albeit a thin one, it still would correspond to thousands of years (maybe even millions). And because fossilization is a rare process it makes it hard to tell, how long an extinction even occurred over. But, like Shadow points out, even if it was a catastrophic event (such as an asteroid) there would have still be survivors that could have lived for hundreds or even thousands of years afterwords. The kicker is that the event reduced genetic variability coupled with rapid, massive environmental changes, and you the recipe for extinction (which is never an instant event, but rather a slow, lingering death).

Thanks for explaining,

I was just pointing out that what most people believe about the extinction of dinosaurs,

As we can widely see channels like Discovery that when they talk about the extinction of dinosaurs they just show a big Asteroid coming towards the earth which seems to wipe out the whole species of dinosaurs, its them who are not distributing the information properly and in a proper decorum.

I know the reality about it and you know about it but try to ask about this from your neighbors and see what they will say "Oh ! It was an Asteroid wasn't it?"

Your reply, "Yeah I know, I saw that coming "

[angi chiesa]

Yes I think you guys have got it right. All around the world there is evidence of fine ash deposits that could have been high in the atmousphere blotting out sunlight. Plantlife would have been greatly reduced so no food and very cold.

[:PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR:]

I hope they get to work on creating Jurassic park.

To quote Dr. Ian Malcolm: "Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming."

[ShadowSot]

To quote Dr. Ian Malcolm: "Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming."

If you want to go with scaring people, always go with the classics, pull something from Frankenstein for example.

Pulling from a horror movie is sorta.... enh.

[:PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR:]

If you want to go with scaring people, always go with the classics, pull something from Frankenstein for example.

Pulling from a horror movie is sorta.... enh.

What are you talking about? I pulled a "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" quote since the comment mentioned it, along with the topic of dinosaurs. I don't see a quote from Frankenstein being at all in the same ball park until I see neck bolts sticking out of Velociraptors.

And your logic is an oxymoron. Always quote the classics like Frankenstein, but pulling one from a horror movie is sorta enh? You do know Frankenstein is a classic horror film?

Edited January 25, 2011 by :PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR:

[ShadowSot]

What are you talking about? I pulled a "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" quote since the comment mentioned it, along with the topic of dinosaurs. I don't see a quote from Frankenstein being at all in the same ball park until I see neck bolts sticking out of Velociraptors.

And your logic is an oxymoron. Always quote the classics like Frankenstein, but pulling one from a horror movie is sorta enh? You do know Frankenstein is a classic horror film?

I assure you,Frankenstein was a book long before it was ever a movie.

What I was trying to do, and I failed utterly,was to say something along the lines of "Oh yes, you should always base your expectations of science off of fears instilled in you from horror films."

I was sorta cranky yesterday from a bad day at work, sorry.

[:PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR:]

I assure you,Frankenstein was a book long before it was ever a movie.

What I was trying to do, and I failed utterly,was to say something along the lines of "Oh yes, you should always base your expectations of science off of fears instilled in you from horror films."

I was sorta cranky yesterday from a bad day at work, sorry.

LOL! That's alright. We all have our days.

I wasn't really comparing scenarios from the movie per say, just because I never really encountered a carnivorous dinosaur before. I found the quote funny personally.

However, if a carnivorous dinosaur is someday reborn by scientific means, I believe it would behave like any other carnivore out there, like lions, tigers, alligators, etc.

Therefore, I'd be running and screaming for my life too if it was let loose!

Oh, and Jurassic Park was a book published in 1990. The movie came out in 1993

[ShadowSot]

Oh, and Jurassic Park was a book published in 1990. The movie came out in 1993

Ah, but that quote came from one of the later movies, Lost World, which wasn't even in the book.

Glad you understood.

[:PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR:]

Ah, but that quote came from one of the later movies, Lost World, which wasn't even in the book.

Glad you understood.

I was hoping you didn't catch on. Oh well. I tried.