A newly described species in Madagascar from 237 million years ago suggests that dinosaurs and flying pterosaurs originated from very small ancestors. The Kongonaphon kely (tiny bug slayer) would have stood just 10 centimeters or about 4 inches tall, Phys.org reports.
The description and analysis of this fossil reptile were published on Monday, July 6 in the journal Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study may help explain the origins of flight in pterosaurs and the presence of the "fuzz" on the skin of both dinosaurs and pterosaurs. Moreover, this may also answer other questions about these charismatic animals that lived hundreds of million years ago.
Shockingly small origin
Generally, dinosaurs are perceived as giant animals, but this new very small fossil reptile is very close to the divergence of dinosaurs and pterosaurs, said Carolina Kammerer, a research curator in paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and a former Gerstner Scholar at the American Museum of Natural History.
The origin of the dinosaurs and pterosaurs are poorly known as only a few specimens from the near root of their lineage has been found. Both species belong to the group Ornithodira.
In collaboration with scientists and students at the University of Antananarivo; and project co-leader Andre Wyss, chair and professor of the University of California-Santa Barbara's Department of Earth Science and an American Museum of Natural History research associate; a team of researchers led by American Museum of Natural History Frick Curator of Fossil Mammals John Flynn discovered the fossils of Kongonaphon in 1998 in Madagascar.
According to Flynn, the fossil site in Madagascar from a poorly known time has produced some amazing fossils, and the fossil reptile they found were among the hundreds they have collected.
Though it took some time for them to focus on the bones, it was clear to them that they had found something unique and worth a closer look. "This is a great case for why field discoveries-combined with modern technology to analyze the fossils recovered-is still so important," Flynn said.
The discovery of this tiny relative of dinosaurs and pterosaurs highlights the significance of the fossil record of Madagascar for improving knowledge of vertebrate history during the times that are poorly known in other places, said Lovasoa Ranivoharimanana, project co-leader and director of vertebrate paleontology at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar.
Tiny bug slayers
Kongonaphon was not the first small animal discovered near the root of the ornithodiran family tree, but earlier species do not count and are considered as "isolated exceptions to the rule," according to Kammerer.
The general thought is that the body size remained similar among the first archosaurs until the earliest ornithododiras before their size increased into gigantic proportions in the dinosaur lineage.
This "miniaturization" event yields important implications for the dinosaur and pterosaurs' paleobiology. The researchers discovered that the wear on the teeth of Kongonaphon suggests that it ate insects.
A shift of diet to insectivory may have helped early ornithodirans survive by occupying a niche different from most meat-eating dinosaurs.
Lastly, the fuzzy skin coverings ranging from filaments to feathers may have originated from thermoregulation in Kongonaphon because heat-retention in this small-bodied common ancestor is difficult.
