Home > Prehistoric Flying Reptiles > Nemicolopterus

Nemicolopterus

---

The latest in a series of spectacular Chinese fossil discoveries, Nemicolopterus is the smallest pterosaur (flying reptile) yet found, comparable in size to a modern pigeon or sparrow. As tiny as it was, though, it's possible that Nemicolopterus occupied an early spot in the evolutionary line that produced monstrous late-Cretaceous pterosaurs like Pteranodon and Quetzalcoatlus. Because of the curved shape of its claws, paleontologists speculate that Nemicolopterus perched high up on the branches of ancient gingko and conifer trees, jumping from branch to branch to feed on insects (and, not incidentally, avoiding the larger tyrannosaurs and raptors that stomped through the woodlands of early Cretaceous Asia).