Here is a fatal accident, etched in stone. This fossil comes from Solnhofen in Germany and dates back to the Jurassic period. On the left is Rhamphorhynchus. It’s a pterosaur – one of many flying reptiles that flapped through the skies while the dinosaurs ruled the land. Its arm bones, which supported its leathery wings, stretch out to the left of the image, while its long, stiff tail points downwards. On the right is Aspidorhynchus, a predatory fish with a long, pointed snout.

On first glance, you might think that the fish tried to eat the pterosaur. But Eberhard Frey and Helmut Tischlinger have been studying the fossil in detail, and they think otherwise.

They analysed four slabs of Solnhofen