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Researchers have unearthed a flock of ancient flying reptiles with a bizarre, butterfly-like head, in Brazil.

The newly discovered reptile species Caiuajara dobruskii lived about 80 million years ago in an ancient desert oasis. The reptile sported a strange bony crest on its head that looked like the wings of a butterfly. It also had the wingspan needed to take flight at a very young age, researchers said. 

The adult skeletal size was not much different from the juveniles' which led researchers hypothesize that C. dobruskii was fairly precocious and could fly at a young age.

Researchers unearthed hundreds of fossils from the reptile in a single bone bed, an evidence that suggests that the flying reptiles were social animals. 

The site where the fossils were discovered cover an area of just 20 square meters.  According to the study, the boneyard was once part of a desert lake in the Cretaceous period, between 100 million to 66 million years ago.

The study added that the ancient C. dobruskii colonies may have lived around the lake for long periods of time and died during periods of storms or drought. 

"This was a flock of pterosaurs," Kellner told Live Science.

Researchers have published the related article in the journal PLOS ONE.