Museum of flying reptiles in dinosaur age set to open

Within the core area of about 70 to 80 sq km, at least one pterosaur individual is buried on average per square meter, suggesting that tens of millions of pterosaurs thrived there during the Cretaceous Period — about 145 to 66 million years ago.

The team also identified the sex of some pterosaurs from the fossils. From eggs and embryos to juveniles, subadults and adults, the fossil remains span all growth stages, making the site something of a pterosaur Garden of Eden.

Among the Early Cretaceous Hami pterosaurs are three-dimensional preserved eggs and embryos — the first such specimens to be discovered anywhere. Those discoveries were reported in 2014 and 2017, respectively.

Wang said that in Hami, the strata from the Early Cretaceous, dating to about 120 to 130 million years ago, are predominantly found in aquatic deposits, which suggests that pterosaurs lived in colonies along lake shores, feeding on the abundant fish across more than 10,000 sq km.