A prehistoric runway for flying pterosaurs has been discovered for the first time.
Scientists uncovered the first known landing tracks of one of these extinct flying reptiles at a site dubbed "Pterosaur Beach," in the fine-grained limestone deposits of an ancient lagoon in southwestern France dating back some 140 million years ago to the Late Jurassic.
The footprints suggest the pterosaur — a "pterodactyloid" with a wingspan roughly three feet wide — flapped to stall its flight during landing, and then planted both its two-inch-long feet simultaneously at a high angle.
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