It was the start of something big — really big.
Scientists have found a fossil from 163 million years ago that represents the oldest known example of a lineage of advanced flying reptiles that later culminated in the largest flying creatures in Earth's history.
The newly identified Jurassic-period creature — a species named Kryptodrakon progenitor, which was unearthed in the Gobi Desert in northwestern China — was modest in size, with a wingspan of perhaps 4½ feet (1.3 meters).