CT scan

Reconstruction of a landscape from the Late Triassic (about 215 million years ago). A Lagerpetid reptile, a relative of pterosaurs, sits on a rock and watches pterosaurs flying above it. Credit: Matheus Fernandes

Study: Ancient pterosaurs took off with smaller brains than expected

New research using advanced fossil imaging shows that early pterosaurs – the first flying reptiles – may have mastered flight almost immediately upon their appearance, without needing a large brain like birds.