Spec-Dinovember day 15 - Fallen Angel by leonardismos on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

This creature lived during Late Jurassic where one day Greenland will be.

The Arborivenatrix longicaudata (“tree huntress with a long tail”) was a small flightless anurognathid pterosaur that reached no more than 30cm of wingspan.

The loose of flight ability in pterosaurs was not a common phenomena, but occurred a few times in specific situations. One of these happened to a lineage of tiny insectivores that thrived in dense forests, adapted to climbing and jumping among the branches and the undergrowth, originating the smallest flightless pterosaurs to ever live.

These creatures had strong limbs with long and hooked claws to help the climbing habit alongside a stiff tail used for balance. The main hunting strategy was by visual detection of the prey (usually arthropods or tiny vertebrates), that were then slowly stalked by the pterosaur until being in the range of the pounce.

The nesting happened in hollow trees and there was no parental care, the hatchlings were capable climbers from the day they were born. Unfortunately these pterosaurs left no descendants by the beginning of Cretaceous.