2011/01/20 by Junchang Lü, David M. Unwin, D. Charles Deeming +3 · 10 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Avian ecology and behavior
paper · doi:10.1126/science.1197323
openalex publication_date 2011/01/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
A sexually mature individual of Darwinopterus preserved together with an egg from the Jurassic of China provides direct evidence of gender in pterosaurs and insights into the reproductive biology of these extinct fliers. This new find and several other examples of Darwinopterus demonstrate that males of this pterosaur had a relatively small pelvis and a large cranial crest, whereas females had a relatively large pelvis and no crest. The ratio of egg mass to adult mass is relatively low, as in extant reptiles, and is comparable to values for squamates. A parchment-like eggshell points to burial and significant uptake of water after oviposition. This evidence for low parental investment contradicts the widespread assumption that reproduction in pterosaurs was like that of birds and shows that it was essentially like that of reptiles.