Flying Fun

Aerial acrobatics in the days of the dinosaurs were not conducted by birds or bats, not early on at least. During the Triassic there were a number of small reptiles capable of flight, the pterosaurs. One of the smallest, oldest, pterosaurs of the Triassic was Peteinosaurus zambelli. This small pterosaur had a wingspan of approximately 60 cm (24 in), one of the smallest known for pterosaurs, and weighed about the same as a Common Blackbird (or American Robin for North American readers). Known from fossils from northern Italy, Peteinosaurus has been well preserved mainly on three slabs of material that house very flat and fragile specimens. This is not abnormal for pterosaurs as they possessed very strong but light bones. Peteinosaurus is slightly abnormal for pterosaurs in that it is known to have possessed three different types of teeth (called tridontomorphy). These teeth were used for catching insects and hypothesized features of the manus and wing may have been highly suited to permit precision aerodynamic control of the pterosaur in flight, meaning that at least some of the insects Peteinosaurus hunted may have been flying meals.