How pterosaurs mastered skies?

Scientists have identified dozens of species of pterosaur scattered across the planet. They range from creatures barely bigger than a sparrow to giants as tall as a giraffe and with the wingspan of a fighter jet.

Pterosaurs, the first creatures with a backbone to fly under their own power, emerged during the late Triassic period more than 200 million years ago and include some of the largest animals ever to take to the air.

Paleontologists are still piecing together details of the lives of these winged reptiles — neither dinosaurs nor birds — which soared above T-rex, Triceratops and other dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous period.

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In a study, researchers found out that though the creatures were initially ungainly fliers, the pterosaurs spent 150 million years perfecting their flying skills.Much of the increase in their flight efficiency was down to their expanding wingspan.

Over the millions of years they existed, wings got bigger and bigger — and the bigger the wing is, the better an animal can fly. But even considering the improvements associated with larger size, their flight efficiency still increased over time by more than 50 percent.

However, the exceptions were among the giants of the pterosaur family, the azhdarchids. These huge animals spent more time on the ground than other pterosaurs, and the authors found that although they could fly, their performance in the air did not increase over time.

Researchers also analysed the microscopic scratches and pits on the fossilised teeth of these flying predators to determine what they ate and how their diets changed over time. The study looked at 17 species of pterosaur that lived between 208 and 94 million years ago.

It was found that while the earliest pterosaurs consumed mostly invertebrates, later species had evolved into meat and fish eaters. This dietary shift sped up around the 150-million-year mark which is around the same time that birds were evolving.

By the time they were wiped out alongside their dinosaur cousins, most winged pterosaurs had evolved from awkwardly airborne to lords of the primeval skies.