This Flying 'Monkeydactyl' Is The Only Known Pterosaur With Opposed Thumbs

[Judi Lynn]

An illustration of two 'Monkeydactyls' climbing in a tree. (Chuang Zhao)

BRANDON SPECKTOR, LIVE SCIENCE
16 APRIL 2021

A small, flying reptile glides beneath the canopy of an ancient forest, scouring the trees for tasty bugs. She spots a cicada buzzing in the boughs of a ginkgo tree, then swoops down to snatch it up in her beak. The bug flees; the reptile follows, grasping swiftly along the branches with her sharp claws until – snatch! – she grabs the bug with her opposable thumbs.

It's not your typical picture of a pterosaur – those iconic, winged reptiles that lived through most of the Mesozoic era (from about 252 million to 66 million years ago).

But according to a new study published April 12 in the journal Current Biology, a newly-described Jurassic pterosaur appears to have lived its life among the trees, hunting, and climbing with the help of its two opposable thumbs – one on each of its three-fingered hands.

Researchers have named the flyer Kunpengopterus antipollicatus (from the Greek word meaning "opposite thumbed&quot – but you can just call it Monkeydactyl.

"[Monkeydactyl] is an interesting discovery," study author Fion Waisum Ma, a doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham in the UK, said in a statement. "It provides the earliest evidence of a true opposed thumb, and it is from a pterosaur — which wasn't known for having an opposed thumb."

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-newly-described-flying-monkeydactyl-is-the-only-known-pterosaur-with-opposed-thumbs

[soothsayer]

1. Huh. Interesting.