Darwinopterus and modular evolution

Darwinopterus is the name of a new fossil that scientists have discovered in northeastern China. It's of a flying reptile that lived over 160 million years ago. This fossil is significant because it provides the first clear evidence of a "controversial" (I don't really see why it's controversial) type of evolution called modular evolution. This is "where natural selection forces a whole series of traits to change rapidly rather than just one."

Up until now, researchers knew there existed the more ancient, long-tailed pterosaurs and the newer, short-tailed ones, but those two species were separated by a wide gap in the fossil record. The discovery of this recent fossil and about 20 others like it, however, could prove to be the missing link. Darwinopterus had a head and neck like the advanced pterosaurs but a body like the more primitive types.