Fossil of 200 million-year-old flying reptile unearthed in UK

A 200-million-year-old flying reptile was discovered in Somerset during postgraduate research at the University of Bristol

In a study conducted by Mike Cawthorne, a graduate student at the University of Bristol, a 200 million year old fossil of a Kuehneosaur, a flying reptile, was discovered in the limestone quarries in Somerset.

Research has revealed that in the region known as the Mendip Hills, there were winged reptiles that soared in the air in addition to reptiles living on the ground.

Kuehneosaurs are known to have been small animals, one with broad wings, the other with shorter wings and small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. It is likely that the ground-dwelling species climbed trees to hunt and used its wings to glide between them.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, also recorded the presence of reptiles with complex teeth, the trilophosaur Variodens, and the aquatic Pachystropheus, which probably lived like a modern-day otter, feeding on shrimp and small fish.

Source: Newsroom