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  • Mark Witton/University of Portsmouth
Today it's all about Pterosaurs, which as you will remember, are NOT dinosaurs.


Many people around the interwebs have sent me the news that scientists have figured out how to determine the sex of these winged reptiles, and it's not by lifting their skirts:

A fossilized pterodactyl, found in China, has provided the first direct confirmation of the differences between male and female pterodactyls. The new fossil, a female, has been nicknamed Mrs. T.

...One of the most basic mysteries was finding out the sex of all pterodactyl fossils that have turned up over the years. Mrs. T, found in the Liaoning Province of China, was found fossilized with an egg. Scientists examining the fossil have said that the egg was so well developed that the pterodactyl would have been about to lay it when she was killed. (via io9)

Among the features they've determined can distinguish between the males and females: the males had crests and the females had wider hips. You can read all the details here, here, here, and here.

In other news, apparently Pterosaurs hung out with birds in Japan.