Flying reptile mystery 'solved'

[Allan Edels <edels@msn.com>]

> From the BBC (via Yahoo):

The scientists involved may be familiar to some of you...   :-))


Link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5221862.stm

Text:

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Flying reptile mystery 'solved'
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UK scientists say they have solved the mystery of why prehistoric flying 
reptiles grew crests on their heads.
A rare skull specimen found in Brazil shows the crest appeared at puberty, 
suggesting it was used to attract attention from the opposite sex.

University of Portsmouth experts say pterosaurs, which ruled the air during 
the time of the dinosaurs, flaunted their headgear in sexual displays.

The findings are published in the journal Palaeontology.

Palaeobiologist Dr Darren Naish said the crest was a signal of sexual 
maturity; used like a peacock's tail to attract a mate.

"It would have been like a gigantic cockerel's comb, a brightly-coloured 
striking structure used in display," he told the BBC News website.

"We don't know this but we imagine they would have bobbed it around and used 
it to attract other pterosaurs."

Rare specimen:

The theory is based on the skull of a species of pterosaur known as 
Tupuxuara, which was unearthed recently in north-east Brazil.

It was a rare discovery; only a handful of fossil specimens exist in the 
world and all the others are the remains of adults.

Dr Naish and colleague Dr David Martill examined the skull and found that 
the crest was different in the juvenile.

Rather than forming one large triangular crest of bone extending from the 
snout to the back of the head, it was made up of two pieces.

One crest came from the back of the skull and the other from the front of 
the snout. The crest that sprouted from the front grew backwards, only 
fusing to form one large crest when the pterosaur reached puberty.

"This is a significant find as it links the growth of the crest to physical 
maturity and therefore presumably to sex," said Dr Naish.

"The specimen was extremely rare and it is great to be able to piece 
together a little bit more details about pterosaurs."

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Side Bar (from the page):

Pterosaurs:
* Pterosaurs lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods
* They were the first actively flying vertebrates and evolved many different 
forms
* Pterosaurs are thought to belong to a group of reptiles known as 
archosaurs, which includes crocodiles, dinosaurs and birds

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Allan Edels