The kuehneosaurs glided through forests 385million years ago

Palaeontologists have unveiled an extraordinary prehistoric 'flying' reptile which lived 235 million years ago.

The kuehneosaurs glided through the subtropical forests of Europe using scaly 'wings' that could carry it distances of more than 30ft.

Experts say the lizard-like reptile, which grew up to 2ft long, used extensions of their ribs to form large gliding surfaces on the sides of their body.

The scientific community is united in the belief that birds descended from reptiles 50 million years later making the kuehneosaurs the world's first 'bird'.

The long-extinct species was first unearthed in the Britain by Archaeologists in the 1950s, but until now their aerodynamic capability had not been studied.

Earlier this year, experts from Bristol University investigated both types of kuehneosaurs found in the UK - kuehneosuchus and kuehneosaurus - for the first time.

The species, which inhabited the warm late Triassic period from 235 to 200 million years ago, was first discovered in the UK inside an ancient cave system near Bristol.

Both types of kuehneosaurs lived 80 million years before the largest dinosaurs of the Jurassic period, and 50 million years before the earliest known bird, archaeopteryx, which lived in what is now southern Germany.
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Pfft. Couldnt be 235 million years ago...earths not that old...

Can you imagine the first little guy that accidentally fell out of a tree? Screaming all the way down, little lizard life flashing before his eyes, only to find he can glide...Probably climbed right back up to do it again...considered the local daredevil, bad influence on the young ones...till it catches on, and everyone is gliding...

I wonder about the coloring; I know that they use best estimates when they are recreating the images, but I always wonder if when they find the fossils of a dinosaur that maybe one of them wasnt the typical green or tan configuration we always see. (with an occasional variation). I mean, not that one of them is going to be paisley with a Scotish tartan mix underbelly (although that would be interesting), I wonder if there was more of a spectrum of color than we will ever know?

Aww...that's just so darn cute! I've always thought little lizards were adorable, the car insurance industry has capitalized on this as well. There's a cute little Geecko with an Aussie accent is all the rage here in the states.

Pfft. Couldnt be 235 million years ago...earths not that old...

I hope you were being sarcastic ^^; The earth has been around for about four and a half billion years...

LEAPING LIZARDS, THIS ONE'S FLYING!
I was reminded of that for some reason... the leaping lizards thing.
anyways.

o: Cutie. I'd like to have one of those as a pet.