Pterosaur Chased a Quadruped 100 Million Years Ago... 'Pursuit' Footprint Fossils Discovered

New Pterosaur Footprints Identified in the Jinju Formation
First-Ever Evidence of Terrestrial Hunting Behavior

Pterosaur Footprint Fossil

Footprint fossils have confirmed that, 106.5 million years ago, a large pterosaur chased a small animal along the shore of a lake.

An international joint research team, including Dr. Jeong Jongyun of the University of Texas at Austin and Professor Kim Kyung-Ah of Jinju National University of Education, announced on the 16th that they had identified large pterosaur footprints by analyzing footprint fossils unearthed from the Jinju Formation in Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do.

The name given is "Jinjuichnus procerus," meaning "elongated forelimb pterosaur footprints discovered in Jinju." The research findings were published that day in the international academic journal Scientific Reports.

Pterosaur Footprint Fossil Figure

This discovery is notable because, right next to the pterosaur footprints, the footprints of a small quadrupedal animal—believed to be a salamander or lizard—were preserved in parallel. Analysis revealed that the small animal had been walking in a consistent direction, then suddenly changed course by 25 degrees and simultaneously greatly increased its stride length.

The research team explained, "This suggests the animal was startled and sped up to escape. Pterosaur footprints continue in that same direction, indicating that the pterosaur appears to have walked on land at a speed of about 0.8 meters per second in pursuit." They added, "The similar depth and preservation of both sets of footprints suggest that this was a chase that occurred at the same time."

Jinju Pterosaur Restoration Drawing

This pterosaur was found to be similar to the Neoazhdarchia lineage, which searched for food on land like a stork. Paleontologists have long hypothesized that this lineage of pterosaurs were terrestrial predators. However, no fossil evidence of actual hunting behavior had been found until now. The research team emphasized, "This is the first ichnological evidence showing that pterosaurs hunted vertebrates on land."

The footprint specimens are on display at the Jinju Pterosaur Footprint Exhibition Hall.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.