Pterosaurs are Weird and Birds Didn't Bother Them

Recent research from the University of Bristol has shone new light on the evolution of pterosaurs, the mighty flying reptiles of the Mesozoic. The general evolutionary trend is that when a new group of animal evolves, they "try out" every niche and diversify quickly. However, in the case of pterosaurs, the opposite seems to have occurred. Early pterosaurs were all very similar and simple - small, toothed insectivores with long tails. It is only until the later Jurassic period, around the same time birds first evolved, that pterosaurs really started to diversify. The Jurassic shows the first toothless pterosaurs, with short tails and crests. By the Cretaceous, the pterosaurs had split into many groups, from the massive azhdarchids to small, bat-like insectivores to the piscivorous pteranodontians. Until recently, it had been thought that the evolution of birds was the beginning of the end for the pterosaurs. Now we know it just kicked off an even grander time.

I thought this article was very interesting. I agree with the researches in that birds did not cause pterosaurs to go extinct - it seems kind of obvious. I don't know why it took this long to figure that out. Birds would not have been a competitor to pterosaurs, as they occupied different ecological niches and would have been able to coexist. Also, I feel like dinosaur evolution follows a similar model to pterosaur evolution - the inverse of the norm.

University of Bristol. (2011, July 7). The rise and rise of the flying reptiles: Pterosaurs not driven into extinction by birds, study reveals. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 5, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110706101608.htm