4.8 Article

An Egg-Adult Association, Gender, and Reproduction in Pterosaurs

Journal

SCIENCE
Volume 331, Issue 6015, Pages 321-324

Publisher

AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1197323

Keywords

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Funding

  1. National Natural Science Foundation of China [40872017, 90914003]
  2. 973 Project [2006CB701405]
  3. Ministry of Science and Technology [J1003, J0703]

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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.

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