Newly discovered pterodactyloid is earliest one known

[rogue06]

Researchers have announced the discovery of the fossilized remains of the earliest and basalmost pterodactyloid known and which lived roughly 163 mya (at the boundary of the Middle and Late Jurassic), at least 5 million years earlier than previously known.

Pterodactyloidea are one of the two suborders of pterosaurs, an order of extinct winged reptiles that existed from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period (228 to 66 mya), were the earliest reptiles to evolve powered flight and were also the largest known flying creatures to have ever existed.

It was found in the mudstone of the Shishugou Formation of Xinjiang located in northwest China, 35 meters (115') below an ash bed in the well-known Junggar Basin dinosaur traps (popularly called the "dinosaur death pits").

The researchers, led by paleontologist Brian Andres of the University of South Florida's School of Geosciences, named the pterodactyloid Kryptodrakon progenitorKryptodrakon's diet cannot be definitively determined. In any case, its relatives are known to have consumed insects, fish and even the young of apex predators which indicates that Kryptodrakon was probably a carnivore.

Kryptodrakon likely had a wingspan of around 54" (1.37 meters), considerably less than the creature's enormous descendants, such as Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx

Further Reading:

The Earliest Pterodactyloid and the Origin of the Group Abstract

Oldest pterodactyloid species discovered: Primitive flying reptile took wing 163 million years ago

Tiny Flying Reptile Ancestor to Giant Pterodactyls Found

International Research Team Names Most Primitive Species Of Flying Reptile

Meet Kryptodrakon: Oldest Known Pterodactyl Found in China

Oldest Pterodactyl Species, Kryptodrakon Progenitor, Discovered In China

'Hidden Dragon' Beast Gave Rise to Fearsome Flying Reptiles

[klaus54]

Thanks for the cool info!

Another "missing link" found.. But now this creates two more gaps for anti-evolutionists to yap about.

BTW, these are scary critters! No wonder Noah didn't take them on the Ark.

K54

[rogue06]

Thanks for the cool info!

Another "missing link" found.. But now this creates two more gaps for anti-evolutionists to yap about.

[firstfloor]

Just to add to that thought. Gaps are measured in units of time. As the number of specimens and gaps go up, the average time interval is reduced but the sum over all the gaps remains constant and is just the interval between the first and last specimen in the sequence. The fidelity of the fossil record at any particular location is really determined by gap length.