BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The fossil of a gliding reptile about the size of a blue jay with unique feet has been discovered by paleontologists in 220-million-year-old sediments of a quarry on the Virgina-North Carolina border in America.

    The new creature is named Mecistotrachelos apeoros, which means "soaring, long-necked."

    "One of the really neat things about the new glider is the feet," said Nick Fraser of the Virginia Museum of Natural History, who discovered the two fossils. "They are preserved in a hooked posture which is unusual and strongly suggests a grasping habit. I'm convinced it was using its hind limbs for grasping branches."

    Fraser said the Triassic Period reptile probably fed on insects, scrambling up tree trunks and foraging on the way, then gliding to neighboring trees. Two other reptiles with similar gliding membranes are known from the Triassic, but Fraser noted they have much shorter necks and therefore are more like modern gliding lizards.

    The findings are detailed in the latest issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 

    Fraser thinks it is related to a group of extinct reptiles with long necks called protorosaurs ¡ª a group that includes the bizarre Tanystropheus, which had a neck longer than its body and tail combined.

    "The length of the neck on these guys is really surprising," Fraser told LiveScience. "But what's even more interesting are the thick ribs near the base of the neck." He explained that such bones are indicate stronger muscles near the membranous wings.

    "This would have given them much more maneuverability in the air than other gliders, even modern gliding lizards in the Malaysian rain forests," Fraser said. "This is some of the best early evidence of strong aerial mobility. It's certainly something that will make us look more closely at the origins of flying dinosaurs."

    (Agencies)