Fossils of two previously unknown species of pterosaurs or "winged lizards" have been found by Chinese and Brazilian scientists in western Liaoning in northeast China.

It is thought the flying reptiles could have traveled and communicated with their peers between today's France, Germany or the UK and East Asia more than 120 million years ago, the scientists report in today's Nature magazine.

The new findings will contribute greatly to a more comprehensive understanding of pterosaurs, which dominated the Earth's sky for 160 million years, said Wang Xiaolin from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The size of pterosaurs ranged from several centimeters to more than 130 centimeters. Their wings were covered by a leathery membrane stretching between the body, the top of the legs and their elongated fourth fingers. In fact, the wing's main support was the extremely long fourth digit on the hand.

The scientists found that one of the two new pterosaurs, the Feilongus youngi or Young's flying dragon, was closely related to a family of pterosaurs found in southern France and Germany. Young refers to the late Young Chung Chien, a pioneering Chinese vertebrate paleontologist.

The flying dragon is now recognized as the largest known member of the group and the first ever found in western Liaoning, Wang said.

The area is also known to many as the Jehol Biota. Volcanic eruptions about 130 million years ago produced the well-preserved fossils found there. Many scientists believe it is the evolutionary cradle of many creatures alive today.

The other new pterosaur species, Nurhachius ignaciobritoi, was named after the legendary Manchu chieftain Nurhachi who founded the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and famous Brazilian paleontologist Ignacio M. Brito.

With unusual interlocking teeth, the pterosaur had a pair of openings directly connected to the front of its nose, which was more than half the length of its skull. Its only known fossil kin is represented by very incomplete remains found in the UK's Isle of Wight in the 19th century.

The discoveries have added yet more sparkle to a series of sensational fossil discoveries in western Liaoning, Wang said.

"This unexpected mixture of different pterosaur groups indicates a very complex evolutionary history of pterosaurs in general, which is just beginning to be deciphered," the authors write in Nature magazine.

Wang was the senior author of a letter to the magazine. He wrote it with Zhou Zhonghe, his colleague in IVPP, Alexander W. A. Kellner of the National Museum and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and Diogenes de Almedia Campos of the Ciencias da Terra Museum.

Over the past few decades, scientists have found many things in the Jehol Biota ranging from the first beaked bird to some of the most primitive flowering plants and fruit, lizards, turtles and reptiles.

(China Daily October 6, 2005)