Around 220 million years ago, shifting climate conditions created an environment that allowed pterosaurs to evolve and take flight.
Pterosaurs, which ruled the skies during the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods, are believed to have first developed the ability to fly in warm and humid environments during the Late Triassic, according to a new study.
The research, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, involved scientists from the University of Birmingham, University College London, and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany. The team combined fossil distribution data from the Triassic period with information about ancient climate conditions in the same regions.
The researchers focused on two closely related groups: pterosaurs and lagerpetids. Lagerpetids, which lived between approximately 240 and 201 million years ago, were small, active reptiles that lived on land and in trees. They are now considered the closest relatives of pterosaurs. The study shows that lagerpetids could thrive in a broader range of climates than early pterosaurs, including the dry regions of the ancient supercontinent Pangea. This adaptability allowed them to spread widely across the planet.
Humid zones limited early pterosaur distribution
Pterosaurs, in contrast, seem to have initially been limited to the more humid regions of the ancient world. Fossil evidence from modern-day Italy, Austria, and the southwestern United States—areas that were near the equator during that time—supports this idea.
As global climate conditions shifted during the Late Triassic, warm and humid environments began expanding beyond the equatorial zone. This shift created new opportunities for pterosaurs, allowing them to quickly disperse to other parts of the world, including high-latitude regions that are now Greenland and South America.
Pterosaur evolution shaped by climate
Dr Davide Foffa from the University of Birmingham and corresponding author of the paper said:
“Pterosaurs capture the imagination, with the idea of terrifying reptiles dominating the airs at the time while dinosaurs were roaming the world. However, pterosaur origins are still wrapped in mystery. Our study adds new information to this puzzle, suggesting that their early evolution during the Triassic period into a dominant group may have been favored by changing climates and environments.
Dr Emma Dunne from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and a co-author of the paper said:
“Climate change is a leading cause of biodiversity change, both in the present day and the geological past. However, it is only in the last few years [with advances in modelling methods] that paleontologists are getting to grips with how climate change impacted the biodiversity of prominent fossil groups like the pterosaurs.”
Fossil record and models align to tell the story
Dr Alessandro Chiarenza from the University College London and co-leading author of the paper said: “Taken together, ecological models and fossil data paint a coherent picture of pterosaur early evolution.”
”Lagerpetids thrived as generalists, while pterosaurs, initially confined to humid-tropical niches and perhaps limited flight performance, occupied equatorial treetops,” adds Chiarenza.
“When global climates shifted and forested corridors opened, those same wings catapulted them into every corner of the planet and ultimately carried them through one of Earth’s greatest extinctions. What began as a tale of missing fossils is becoming a textbook example of how paleoclimate, paleoecology and evolutionary innovation intertwine to illuminate a patchy history that has intrigued paleontologists for two centuries.”
Reference: “Climate drivers and palaeobiogeography of lagerpetids and early pterosaurs” by Davide Foffa, Emma M. Dunne, Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza, Brenen M. Wynd, Alexander Farnsworth, Daniel J. Lunt, Paul J. Valdes, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Ben T. Kligman, Adam D. Marsh, William G. Parker, Richard J. Butler, Nicholas C. Fraser, Stephen L. Brusatte and Paul M. Barrett, 18 June 2025, Nature Ecology & Evolution.
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02767-8
Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.
Follow us on Google and Google News.