Are pterosaurs oviparous or viviparous?

The world's first pterosaur egg and embryo fossil was discovered in the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in western Liaoning, my country, about 121 million years ago. It is also one of the three pterosaur eggs that have been discovered in the world. Since the discovery of pterosaur fossils 220 years ago, there has been a question of whether pterosaurs were oviparous or viviparous? This discovery and research revealed for the first time that pterosaurs lay eggs. This result was published in the British "Nature" published on June 10, 2004, and was selected as the 2004 global 100 scientific news selected by the American "Discover" magazine.

Reconstruction of pterosaur embryo

Pterosaur embryo fossil

Pterosaurs and dinosaurs are close relatives and lived in the same era. People often mistake pterosaurs as "flying dinosaurs". The mystery of whether pterosaurs lay eggs has remained unresolved for more than two hundred years since the discovery of pterosaur fossils. Before 2004, there had been no definite reports on pterosaur egg fossils, and the discovery of pterosaur embryo fossils was an unreachable hope and dream. But our extravagant hopes and dreams eventually became a reality, and helped us uncover the answer: pterosaurs, like birds and other reptiles, were oviparous and had a precocious embryonic development model, that is, they could walk as soon as they were born. Foraging and even flying. They lay their eggs in the sand and mud of lakes or beaches, and may hatch and care for their young.

animal tags： pterosaur embryo fossil dinosaur