Kuehneosaurs looked like lizards, but were more closely related to the ancestors of crocodilians and dinosaurs. They were small animals that could fit neatly on the palm of a hand, and there were two species, one with extensive wings, the other with shorter wings, made from a layer of skin stretched over their elongated side ribs, which allowed them to swoop from tree to tree.

Like the modern flying lizard Draco from southeast Asia, they most likely wandered about on the ground and climbed trees in search of insect prey. When startled, or if they spotted a tasty insect flying by, they could launch themselves into the air, and land safely 10m away.

The discovery was made by University of Bristol Masters student Mike Cawthorne, researching numerous reptile fossils from limestone quarries, which formed the biggest sub-tropical island at the time, called the Mendip Palaeo-island.

The study, published in Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, also records the presence of reptiles with complex teeth, the trilophosaur Variodens and the aquatic Pachystropheus that probably lived a bit like a modern-day otter likely eating shrimps and small fish.

The animals either fell or their bones were washed into caves and cracks in the limestone.