Pterosaur embryo from the Early Cretaceous
- 1 June 2004
- journal article
- Published by Springer Nature in Nature
- Vol. 429 (6992) , 621
- https://doi.org/10.1038/429621a
Abstract
Dinosaur embryos have been discovered all over the world, but so far no pterosaur embryos have been reported. Here we describe a Chinese fossil from the Early Cretaceous period containing an embryo that is unambiguously a pterosaur. The embryonic skeleton, which is exquisitely preserved in its egg, is associated with eggshell fragments, wing membranes and skin imprints. This discovery confirms that pterosaurs were egg-layers and sheds new light on our understanding of pterosaur development.Keywords
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