An international team including researchers from the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP) describes a new type  of footprints for science in the Alta Val Maira (western Alps, Italy). The tracks were made by a large reptile that lived in this area about 250 million years ago, when the Alps had not yet formed and probably was a coastal area with a nearby river delta. The find is exceptional because until now it was considered to be an inhospitable area as a consequence of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction.

A new Nature study reveals that lagerpetids —an ancient group of small reptiles that lived about 237-210 million years ago— are more closely related to pterosaurs (flying reptiles) than any other known group in the animal kingdom. The recent discovery of lagerpetid skull, mandible and forelimb remains from America and Madagascar fills in a critical gap in the fossil record between pterosaurs and other reptiles. The brains and inner ears of pterosaurs and lagerpetids are similar, suggesting that some of the specialization in pterosaur sensory systems evolved prior to flight.