New facts about flying reptile PDF Print E-mail
 Research preserved skeleton flying reptile- pterosaur - the result that his wings, claws, and cover the body similar to the hairs do not resemble anything that we can observe among animals today - read the website "News in Science." Parts of this animal's extracted from the sediments of late Jurassic or early Cretaceous, with Daohugou Bed rock formations in the south-east China. Among adult pterosaur species Jeholopterus ningchengensis. Their age is estimated at around 140-130 million years. As a rule, so old retain only part of the bone. This time, the researchers found, however, also soft tissues, giving them a unique opportunity to learn about new anatomical details of the animal. Studies of Chinese specimen suggests that this was an animal on insects could live in the crowns of trees and it was great air. "Our study indicates that the soft tissues of reptiles differ from what we know today" - emphasizes the study author, paleontologist from the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Dr. Alexander Kellner. Researchers have concluded that the wing in the test case was less than a meter (in other species exceed this figure up to 12 m!), And skin membrane is stretched between the torso and limbs of the long fingers. Membrane could be made up of three layers of structural fibers, the fibers in each of these layers in a different direction, creating a grid pattern. Researchers speculate that flying reptile actively helping each other on a flight membranes. As Kellner added, the construction of specific membrane skin can also allow for easy alignment wings at rest. These fibers give the film strength, thereby preventing .The presence of even three layers of the membrane wings of the fibers against the various parties, in this study is the most surprising - one of the largest assessed the authorities in the world in terms, Italian paleontologist Dr. Fabio Dalla Vecchia. They were not observed in other, well-preserved specimens, which may mean that not all the structures in wings were built in the same way.
 
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