Overview

• Two complete, articulated infant Pterodactylus fossils nicknamed Lucky I and Lucky II are detailed in a Current Biology study published September 5 by University of Leicester paleobiologists.
• UV imaging and osteological analysis show clean, oblique fractures of the humerus in opposite wings, with wingspans under about 20 centimeters indicating days‑ to weeks‑old hatchlings.
• The team concludes powerful storm winds twisted the wings, after which the animals drowned and were rapidly buried in very fine limy mud in the Solnhofen lagoons.
• This storm‑driven pathway would preferentially preserve juveniles as intact skeletons, whereas adults more often decomposed and left scattered fragments after floating on calmer waters.
• The findings revise long‑standing interpretations of the Solnhofen assemblage by attributing its abundance of small pterosaurs to taphonomic sampling bias rather than ecosystem dominance.