Image missing.
Baby pterosaur skeletons reveal a tragic demise

Andrew Paul

created: Sept. 5, 2025, 3 p.m. | updated: Sept. 5, 2025, 9:41 p.m.

According to study co-author and University of Leicester paleobiologist Rab Smyth, this is at least somewhat understandable for the flying dinosaur species. Both part and counterpart show the delicate bones of this tiny pterosaur, capturing a fractured wing in extraordinary detail. Credit: University of Leicester Rab SmythLucky II, another hatchling Pterodactylus, preserved as a part and partial counterpart under UV light. The team ironically dubbed the pair Lucky I and II, yet Smyth didn’t spot both of them at the same time. In Lucky I’s case, it occurred in their left wing, while Lucky II sustained the break in its right.

6 hours, 50 minutes ago: Popular Science