Pterodactyl Intermediate

Darwinopterus: New flying dinosaur discovered that could fill evolutionary gap | Daily Mail Online

quote:

---

Researchers say the discovery plugs an evolutionary gap in pterodactyls - which has baffled scientists for decades - by explaining how they developed so quickly.

---

quote:

---

Darwinopterus was terrifying 2ft long hawk-like creature had huge talons that were used to snare other pterodactyls and flying mammals in mid air and pin them to the ground.

​

The flying dinosaur then used its powerful head and long jaw with rows of 15cm fangs to tear chunks of flesh from its victims.

​

Two variations of the reptile have long been known about - the primitive long-tailed forms and their short-tailed descendants.

​

However they were separated by a large time gap, identified in the time of Darwin, that had never before been filled.

​

But these skeletons dated around 160million years old has helped fill the gap.

---

quote:

---

'What's so incredible about the fossil is that this new group of pterodactyl sits in the middle of the family tree.

​

'We had the grandfather and grandson type of pterodactyls and we were confused as to how they evolved but now we have the father which had been the missing link between them.

---

New intermediate... pretty cool.

---

They go on about modular evolution and the possibility of its involvement in human evolution.

quote:

---

The discovery shows that large parts of dinosaurs bodies such as the head and body 'morphed' rapidly over a short period of time.

​

This dispels Darwin's theory that small body parts such as a finger nail or tooth change gradually and could explain how humans developed so quickly from mammals.

​

Scientists believe that this controversial type of 'modular evolution' will prove that there were hundreds and thousands more dinosaurs alive that have never been discovered.

​

It could also explain how mammals and humans evolved new body parts so quickly after dinosaurs died out in the Ice Age.

---

Word. its not even a dinosaur >.<And the stuff about human evolution seemed to just be sensationalizing... I didn't even want to post the title of the article.BUT... I do think that finding another intermediate is pretty cool.

Dang. I just thought the find was neat. I'd never heard of the Daily Mail before, it was just a link from a link.I realized the shittiness of the article, but didn't think it become the focus of the thread.Thanks to those who supplied the better links.And your welcome to those who got a laugh.