Vultursaurus

Vultursaurus mimicus

Vultursaurus is a strange, nocturnal, flying scansoriopterygid with bat-like wings from the chasms and jungles of Skull Island. It has a 20-25 inch wingspan. The discovery of Vultursaurus has led to the hypothesis that Skull Island’s ecological pressures and unstable geology leads to many small ground-dwelling species to independently evolve flight. Vultursaurus is not a bird, pterosaur, bat or volucerictid, they are the sole surviving representatives of a remarkable second dynasty of airborne theropods that have developed bat-like wing membranes instead of feathered wings. Their wings (which are not single sheets of skin as on pterosaurs) are divided by extended fingers like bats. Broad and supple, their wings are able to be realigned with ease in flight. Their flapping is not as efficient as either a bird’s or bat’s but is more than sufficient to keep them aloft. The big-eyed flocking creatures are nocturnal, roosting on ledges or in deep jungle shade during the day, emerging in vast flocks to hunt insects, such as moths, at night. They have excellent night vision, their reflective eyes able to discern distance and depth in even dim starlight. Only on the blackest nights are they grounded.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Family: Scansoriopterygidae
Genus: Vultursaurus
Species: V. mimicus