'Monkeydactyl' may be the oldest known creature with opposable thumbs

[Judi Lynn]

The winged reptile’s dexterity may have helped it climb trees during the age of dinosaurs



A newly discovered pterosaur (illustrated) from the Jurassic Period may have used its opposable thumbs to cling to tree branches and catch food such as cicadas.

CHUANG ZHAO

By Maria Temming

APRIL 14, 2021 AT 10:55 AM

Future Jurassic Park films could feature one weird new beast in the menagerie: a pterosaur nicknamed Monkeydactyl for its opposable thumbs.

This flying reptile from the Jurassic Period may be the earliest known animal that could touch the insides of its thumbs to the insides of its other fingers, researchers report online April 12 in Current Biology. Such dexterity probably allowed Monkeydactyl to climb trees about 160 million years ago, perhaps to feed on insects and other prey that nonclimbing pterosaurs did not, the researchers say (SN: 12/21/18). The latter half of the creature’s official name, Kunpengopterus antipollicatus, comes from the words “opposite” and “thumb” in ancient Greek.

Monkeydactyl’s fossilized remains, unearthed in northeastern China in 2019, are embedded in rock. So the team used micro-CT scanning to create a 3-D rendering of the fossil. “With this detail, we’re able to look at the fossil from any angle, and make sure that the bones are in their right [original] place,” says study coauthor Rodrigo Pêgas, a paleontologist at the Federal University of ABC in São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil.

More:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/monkeydactyl-jurassic-pterosaur-oldest-fossil-opposable-thumbs

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. What this image indicates is that

if you want to live for millions of years and not go extinct, burrow yourself in the ground for 17 years at a time.

[Javaman]

2. Monkeydactyl was the name of my Dinosaur Jr. cover band. nt