Biology
An artist’s restoration of Dimorphodon in flight. © Luis Rey
We know that pterosaurs laid eggs because pterosaur eggs have been found in China and South America, so Dimorphodon would have laid eggs too. However, none have ever been found.
Discoveries of baby pterosaurs in marine deposits in Germany confirm that pterosaurs could fly away from their hatching site whilst still very small.
This is different from today’s birds, where the young hatch in a helpless state and have to be fed and cared for.
The microscopic structure of pterosaur bones suggests that they grew rapidly, which could only happen if they had a ‘warm-blooded’ physiology - more like a mammal or a bird than a reptile.
