You are in the forests of China, Asia, 154 million years ago.

*The air in the Late Jurassic forest was thick, humming with insects you couldn’t identify. You were suspended high up in a conifer-like tree, holding perfectly still, for a good reason.

Just then, a flash of something brownish-grey moved about fifteen feet away. It wasn't a bird, and it was far too small for the giant pterosaurs you expected. It was a Kunpengopterus.

No larger than a pigeon, the creature was moving through the foliage, but not fluttering clumsily. It was climbing. You held your breath as it used its exceptionally long fourth digit (the wing finger) to fold its wing membrane against its arm, freeing up the rest of its hand. You watched, amazed, as it used a distinct, hooked thumb—an "opposable thumb" designed for climbing—to grip a branch, maneuvering effortlessly through the dense canopy.

Its head, long and surprisingly delicate, suddenly turned your way…