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Pterosaurs, which lived during the Mesozoic, were the first known vertebrates to evolve powered flight. 1,2 Arboreal locomotion has been proposed for some taxa, 3,4 and even considered to have played a role in the origin of pterosaur flight. 5,6 Even so, there is still need for comprehensive quantitative ecomorphological analyses. 3,4 Furthermore, skeletal adaptations correlated to specialized lifestyles are often difficult to recognize and interpret in fossils. Here we report on a new darwinopteran pterosaur that inhabited a unique forest ecosystem from the Jurassic of China. The new species exhibits the oldest record of palmar (or true) opposition of the pollex, which is unprecedented for pterosaurs and represents a sophisticated adaptation related to arboreal locomotion. Principal-coordinate analyses suggest an arboreal lifestyle for the new species but not for other closely related species from the same locality, implying a possible case of ecological niche partitioning. The discovery adds to the known array of pterosaur adaptations and the history of arborealism in vertebrates. It also adds to the impressive early bloom of arboreal communities in the Jurassic of China, shedding light on the history of forest environments. • Opposed thumbs are adaptations to arborealism and rare for non-mammal vertebrates • A new pterosaur shows the oldest record of such a feature, the first for the group • A comprehensive ecomorphological analysis corroborates arborealism for the species • It shared a complex forest habitat with close relatives through niche partitioning Zhou et al. report on the oldest record of a true opposed thumb, a sophisticated adaptation related to arboreal locomotion, based on a new pterosaur species from the Jurassic of China. Ecomorphological analyses corroborate this interpretation and suggest a case of niche partitioning in a complex early forest ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Pale anthropology (IVPP) scientists headed by Zhu Min has discovered a bony fish fossil in Qujin, southwest of Yunnan Province in China that might enlighten the origin of modern vetebrates. The fossil has complete articles for the potential evolutionary breakthrough. Michael I. Coates from the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago in Illinois added that a new research is at hand due to the find.

Comments on the discovery of fossilized remains in southern China. Development of vertebrates out of invertebrates; Discovery of eel-like, soft-boned fishes; Presence of segmented muscles, complex gills and a notochord; Origin of swimming vertebrates; Molecular clock theory.