The gliding-winged reptile called Queneosaurus lived in what is now the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England, during the Triassic period, about 210 million years ago.
Queneosaurus latus (right) and Queneosuchus latissimus (left). Image credit: Nobu Tamura http://spinops.blogspot.com.
Queneosaurus Although they resembled lizards, they were more closely related to crocodiles and dinosaur ancestors.
It was a small animal that could fit in the palm of your hand.
There were two species: Queneosaurus latus and Queneosuchus latissimus.
One had broad wings, the other short wings, made of a layer of skin stretched over elongated transverse ribs, which allowed it to swoop from tree to tree.
Like a modern flying lizard draco Hailing from Southeast Asia, they are likely to roam the ground or climb trees in search of insect prey.
When startled or when they saw a tasty insect flying by, they could fly into the air and land safely 10 meters away.
The discovery was made by Mike Cawthorn, a student at the University of Bristol, and his colleagues.
The authors examined a large number of reptile fossils taken from three limestone quarries: Enborough, Butscombe and Highcroft. These quarries were located on the largest subtropical island at the time, Mendip Paleo Island.
In addition to Queneosaurus latus and Queneosuchus latissimusthey recorded the existence of Trilophosaurus, a reptile with complex teeth. Variodence and aquatic life Pachystropheus It probably lived a bit like modern otters, eating shrimp and small fish.
These creatures fell or their bones were washed away into caves and limestone cracks.
“The beasts were all small. We were hoping to find dinosaur bones or even isolated teeth, but in fact we found everything but dinosaurs,” Cawthorn said.
“The collections I studied were created in the 1940s and 1950s, when the quarries were still active, and paleontologists could visit to see fresh rock surfaces and talk to the quarrymen. is completed.”
Professor Mike Benton, from the University of Bristol, said: “It took a huge amount of effort to identify the fossil bones, most of which were separate and not part of the skeleton.”
“But we have a lot of comparative material and Mike Cawthorn was able to compare the isolated jaw and other bones with more complete specimens from other sites around Bristol.”
“He showed that the ancient Mendip islands, some 30km long, stretching from Frome in the east to Weston-super-Mare in the west, were home to a wide variety of small reptiles that fed on plants and insects.”
“He didn’t find any dinosaur bones, but dinosaur bones have been found elsewhere in the same geological period around Bristol, so dinosaur bones may have been there.”
During the Late Triassic period, 200 million years ago, the area around Bristol was an archipelago of small islands in a warm subtropical sea.
“These bones were collected in the 1940s and 1950s by some of the great fossil finders, including Tom Fry, an amateur collector at the University of Bristol, who often cycled to the quarry and picked up heavy stones. “They came home with bags of stuff,” said Dr David from the University of Bristol. white side.
“Other collectors were Walter Kuehne, a talented German researcher who was imprisoned in Britain during World War II, and Pamela L. Robinson of University College London.”
“They donated the specimens to the Natural History Museum in London and the Geology Collection at the University of Bristol.”
team's paper Published in Proceedings of the Association of Geologists.
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Michael Cawthorn other. A modern Triassic terrestrial microvertebrate assemblage from caves at Emborough Quarry, Batscombe Quarry and Hycroft Quarry on the Old Islands of Mendip, south-west England. Proceedings of the Association of Geologists, published online on January 20, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2023.12.003
Source: www.sci.news
