The young pterodactyl appeared to have taken flight just days post-hatching, yet some individuals suffered broken wings during a turbulent storm that struck their lagoon habitat.

This immature pterodactyl possessed an adult-like wing configuration, showcasing strength and aerodynamic traits conducive to flight. However, paleontologists have long questioned whether newly hatched individuals were capable of flying.

At the Solnhofen site in southern Germany, countless plant fossils are trapped in limestone. During an examination using ultraviolet light at Haassov’s Museum Bergel, David Unwin and Robert Smith from the University of Leicester, UK, identified a fractured wing of a Pterodactylus antiquus specimen. They soon discovered another hatchling exhibiting the same wing fracture.

“We were astounded,” stated Unwin. “We are not easily shocked. Under UV light, it practically leapt out of the rock. Our immediate reaction was, ‘Bloody hell!’

Unwin and his team estimated that these two specimens, both measuring just 20 cm and still in their growth phase, lived around 150 million years ago, approximately two million years apart. At that time, the location was part of an archipelago, featuring numerous islands and saltwater lagoons, where intense tropical cyclones occasionally triggered rapid underwater landslides that helped preserve fossilized remains.

The hatchling’s bones exhibited a healthy structure without signs of rotation or healing, apart from clean, angled breaks in the humerus (the upper arm bones supporting the wings). These injuries resemble the typical wing damage that adult birds and bats sustain when navigating through oceanic storms.

“The most plausible explanation for these unfortunate pterosaurs with fractured wings is that they were airborne during the incident,” Unwin notes.

“In calm conditions, they could potentially float, but turbulent, wave-driven surfaces would cause them to sink.”

These findings bring valuable evidence to the long-standing debate regarding flight capabilities in hatchling pterosaurs, according to researchers.

“I don’t believe they hatched and simply leapt into the air,” Unwin stated. “However, they were likely airborne almost immediately post-hatching. This is one reason why these very young specimens are represented in the fossil record today.”