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  • Matters Arising
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No protofeathers on pterosaurs

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 4, pages 1590–1591 (2020)Cite this article

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Matters Arising to this article was published on 28 September 2020

The Original Article was published on 17 December 2018

arising from Z. Yang et al. Nature Ecology & Evolution https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0728-7 (2019)

It is widely held that pterosaurs, Mesozoic flying reptiles, were covered with hair-like monofilament structures (pycnofibres) that formed a fine pelt1,2,3,4. Yang et al.5 propose, on the basis of two specimens of an anurognathid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic epoch of China, that some pycnofibres were branched, exhibiting ‘brush-like’ and ‘tuft-like’ morphologies. Going further, these authors compare the branched pycnofibres to protofeathers, reported for several coelurosaurian dinosaurs6 and argue that they share a common origin, a controversial idea that pushes back the first appearance of feathers some 80 million years, from the Late Jurassic to the Early Triassic5,7,8. Evidence from fossilized integument of other pterosaurs9,10 suggests, however, that the branching reported by Yang et al. may be an artefact of preservation. When bunched up, or partially decomposed and unravelled, structural fibres (aktinofibrils) in the wing membranes of pterosaurs exhibit a variety of seemingly branched morphologies including brush-like and tuft-like structures2,9,10. Consequently, branching is not a reliable guide to the identity and homology of pterosaur integumentary structures. In support of their argument for protofeathers in pterosaurs, Yang et al.5 cite the presence of melanosomes and keratin. Both are widely distributed in the pterosaur integument, however, and neither is unique to pycnofibres5,11,12. The rarity of purportedly branched pycnofibres, their restriction to a single, relatively derived pterosaur clade and the absence of uniquely shared morphologies do not support the idea of homology with feathers, as Campione et al.13 have shown.

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Fig. 1: Integumentary structures in Sordes pilosus, PIN–2585/36 (Palaeontological Institute, Moscow).

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study were collected from the literature cited and examination of specimens mentioned in the text.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. Wellnhofer and O. Rauhut (Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, München), Z. Zhou, X. Wang and S. Jiang (Institute for Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Beijing), staff of the Jinzhou Palaeontological Museum, Jinzhou, A. Kellner (Museu Nacional, Rio), S. Chapman and L. Steel (Natural History Museum, London), N. Bakhurina-Unwin (Palaeontological Institute, Moscow and University of Bristol), C. Zhou (Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Shenyang), E. Frey (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Karlsruhe), X. Zheng, W. Wang and X. Zhang (Tianyu Museum of Natural History, Shandong) and X. Jin (Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, Hangzhou) for providing access to specimens in their care, N. Bakhurina-Unwin, C. Bennett, E. Frey, P. Godefroit, M. Habib, D. Hone, S. Jiang, M. McNamara, H. Tischlinger, M. Schweitzer, Z. Yang and the late J. Lü for discussion of the pterosaur integument, and R. Belben and J. Bestwick for suggestions that helped improve an earlier version of the manuscript. D.M.U. thanks the Royal Society (JP100473) and the University of Leicester for financial support. D.M.M. thanks the University of Portsmouth for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Palaeobiology Research, School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    David M. Unwin

  2. School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK

    David M. Martill

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D.M.U. and D.M.M. conceived the project, conducted the research, constructed the figures and wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to David M. Unwin.

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Unwin, D.M., Martill, D.M. No protofeathers on pterosaurs. Nat Ecol Evol 4, 1590–1591 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01308-9

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