Science is Fun Fridays!

 

Pterosaurs have incredibly lightweight skeletons, so finding one intact is pretty rare.

In the Solnhofen Limestones in Germany, paleontologists came across a perfectly preserved hatchling.  And it is tiny, with a wingspan of less than 20 centimeters.

"The odds of preserving one are already slim, and finding a fossil that tells you how the animal died is even rarer," reports lead author, Rab Smyth, from the University of Leicester Centre for Paleobiology.

The fractures suggest a powerful twisting force, such as a severe storm, that caused catastrophic injuries.

It should be noted that several young pterosaur fossils have been found in this area, and now scientists understand why - adults would likely have survived the storm.

Here they explain the conditions: