Tag: pterosaurs
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PBS Eons: Did Ancient Storms Kill These Pterosaurs?
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about the pterosaur diversity of the Solnhofen formation in Germany.
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“Bones Almost on Top of Each Other” – Extraordinary Dinosaur Fossil Site Discovered in the Hațeg Basin
SciTechDaily has a story about an extraordinary dinosaur fossils site in Transylvania. The Hateg Basin is famous for its dinosaur fossils. The site dates to the late Cretaceous Period, some 72 million years ago. So far, thousands of fossils have been found, including bones of amphibians, turtles, crocodiles, dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and mammals. A recent paper in…
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Soft tissue anatomy of pterosaur hands and feet – new information from Solnhofen region pterodactyloid specimens
Dr. David Hone has announced new research with Rene’ and Bruce Lauer of the Lauer Foundation. The paper “Soft tissue anatomy of pterosaur hands and feet – new information from Solnhofen region pterodactyloid specimens” was published in the journal Lethaia and is open access. As part of my ongoing work tracking down various undescribed Pterodactylus and Rhamphorhynchus specimens, I’ve come…
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PBS Eons: Life and Death on Tiny-Dino Island
PBS Eons has another episode of their long form video series "Surviving Deep Time" This time they go to Hațeg island during the late Cretaceous. The domain of Hatzegopteryx thambema, the huge azhdarchid pterosaur. Could you survive? There was an island in the Late Cretaceous Period in the fragmented European archipelago that turned out to be…
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New Pterosaur Species Unearthed in Argentina is Earliest of Its Kind
SciNews has a story about an early pterosaur from Argentina. Melkamter pateko lived between 184 and 174 million years ago in what is now Patagonia in Argentina. It is the earliest known member of Monofenestrata, a large clade of pterosaurs consisting of the Darwinoptera, Anurognathidae and Pterodactyloidea. The discovery of Melkamter pateko is reported in a paper in the…
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New Pterosaur Species Discovered in Japan
SciNews has a story about the discovery of a new species of quetzalcoatline azhdarchid pterosaur in Japan. The animal has been named Nipponopterus mifunensis. It lived about 90 million years ago in what is now the Japanese island of Kyushu. The quetzalcoatline azhdarchids include the largest flying animals ever known, with up to 30+ foot…
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Paleontologists Discover a New Pterosaur, Filling a Key Gap on the Evolutionary Timeline for These Flying Reptiles
Smithsonian Magazine has highlighted the recent discovery of Skiphosoura bavarica, a Jurassic pterosaur from Germany. This research was led by David Hone a paleontologist at Queen Mary University of London. Long-time ESCONI members Bruce and Rene’ Lauer were co-authors on the study. The paper was published in the journal Current Biology. The paper introduces a…
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A new and large monofenestratan reveals the evolutionary transition to the pterodactyloid pterosaurs
Bruce and Rene Lauer have done it again… groundbreaking paleontological research. This time it’s a new pterosaur, Skiphosoura bavarica, from the Jurassic of Germany. The lead author is David Hone with Adam Fitch, Stefan Selzer, and the Lauers. The paper is Open Access and was published in the journal Current Biology.
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New Flying Reptile Fossils Found in Australia
Life reconstruction of Haliskia peterseni. Image credit: Gabriel N. Ugueto. SciNews has an article about the discovery of a large pterosaur in Australia. Haliskia peterseni had a wingspan of about 4.6 meters (15.1 feet). Thought to be a fearsome predator, it lived about 100 million years ago in central western Queensland. The specimen was described in…
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Researchers find fossilized nonflying precursor to pterosaur in Brazil
Phys.org has a story about a fossil find which sheds light on pterosaur evolution. A team of paleontologists have found an ancestor of pterosaurs in a fossil deposit in Brazil. The site is near Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and dates to about 230 million years ago in the Triassic Period. The team named a…
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New fossil flying reptile ‘Elvis’ takes flight
Long time ESCONI members Bruce and Rene’ Lauer of sent us a message to highlight some new research they’ve been working on. They’re both listed as authors on a paper that describes a new large ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Solnhofen of Germany. The animal, Petrodactyle wellnhoferi, lived during the Jurassic about 145 million years ago, when…
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Fossils Reveal Pterosaur Relatives Before They Evolved Wings
The New York Times Trilobites column has a story about pterosaur origins. Paleontologists have long wondered about the evolutionary ancestors of pterosaurs as the animals were most likely small and thus less likely to fossilize. A paper in the journal Nature proposes that Scleromochlus taylori is one of the missing ancestors. It lived about 237 million years ago in what is…
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NYT: How 2 Pterosaurs’ Last Meals Ended Up in the Fossil Record
Two pterosaur fossils from China dating to the Late Jurassic, with green arrows indicating the pellets; the yellow arrows indicate fish scales.Credit…Jiang et al., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2022 The New York Times Trilobite column has a story about some Chinese pterosaurs. A paper in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal…
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Remains of ‘world’s largest Jurassic pterosaur’ recovered in Scotland
The Guardian has a story about the recent discovery of a large Jurassic pterosaur. Described as the largest Jurassic pterosaur, the animal is named Dearc sgiathanach and had a wingspan of about 2.5 meters. It lived about 170 million years ago on what is now the Isle of Skye. Prof. Steve Brusatte of the University…
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PBS Eons: When Pterosaurs Walked
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about pterosaurs and how they lived… when they were on the ground. If you know one thing about pterosaurs, it’s that they’re flyers. And while pterosaurs may be well-known for their domination of the skies in the Mesozoic Era, they didn’t live their entire lives…
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Tiny pterosaurs dominated cretaceous skies
Phys.org had a story about pterosaus during the Cretaceous. A new study looked at competition between birds and pterosaurs and found the babies of the largest pterosaurs out-competed the adults of smaller species. Previously, it was thought that birds had out-competed the smaller species. The paper appeared in the journal Cretaceous Research. New research has…
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A Terrifying ‘Dragon’ Was The Largest Known Flying Reptile of Ancient Australia
Science Alert has a story about a terrifying new pterosaur recently described from Australia. It had a seven-meter wingspan, bristling teeth in its jaws, and it flew through the air! That’s how a new pterosaur from Australia has been described. Named Thapunngaka shawi, it lived about 110 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. The…
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Pterosaurs may have been able to fly as soon as they hatched
ScienceNews has a story about pterosaurs. New research suggests that pterosaur hatchlings might have been able to fly right after hatching. This study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. Pterosaur hatchlings may have been able to fly right out of the shell — although the flight of those ancient baby reptiles might have looked…
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Unique Bone Structure Helped Long-Necked Pterosaurs Fly
Smithsonian Magazine has an interesting article about the largest pterosaurs. These animals were very large with the wingspans of small plaines (8 meters) and necks as long as a giraffe (1.5 meters). A recent paper (April 14th, 2021) in Science Magazine details how these animals supported their large head and necks with a novel spoke…
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SciAm: Pterosaur Origins Flap into Focus
Scientific American has a piece on the origins of pterosaurs. A group of animals called lagerpetids are now thought to e the ancestors of pterosaurs. These animals lived between 237 and 201 million years ago during the Triassic Period. The details are in a paper in the journal Nature, which was published by Sterling Nesbitt,…
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What Did Pterosaurs Eat? Look Very Closely at Their Teeth
Wired.com has a story about pterosaurs. Want to know what an animal eats… look at its teeth! That’s exactly what a paper published in Nature Communications did. The researcher imaged teeth of pterosaurs using a method called infinite focus microscopy. This allowed them to compare the teeth with modern animals, whose diets we know. THE…
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SciNews: New Pterosaur Species Unearthed in China
Sci-News has a story about a new pterosaur discovery in China. This new species is called Ordosipteris planignathus. It lived about 110 -120 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period in what is now Inner Mongolia, China. A paper describing this animal appeared the journal China Geology.
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LiveScience: ‘Tiny bug slayer’ relative of dinosaurs and pterosaurs would have fit in the palm of your hand
LiveScience has a story about a cousin to both dinosaurs and pterosaurs. Kongonaphon kely, meaning “tiny bug slayer”, lived about 237 million years ago, during the Triassic period, in what is now Madagascar. It was discovered in 1998, but just recently described in a paper that appeared in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy…
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The Brain Scoop: Going out on a limb for Quetzalcoatlus
There’s a new episode of “The Brain Scoop”. It was made as part of the new PBS series “Prehistoric Road Trip”. This one is about the giant pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus. Quetzalcoatlus was the largest flying animal of all time. But this extraordinary animal is known from only a handful of bones; a complete skeleton has…
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Four New Species of Prehistoric Flying Reptiles Unearthed in Morocco
Smithsonian Magazine has an article about the recent discovery of not 1. not 2, but 4 new species of pterosaur. These animals were found in the famous Kem Kem fossil beds in southeastern Morocco. They lived about 100 million years ago during the middle Cretaceous Period. All the details are in a paper published in…
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Smithsonian: Pterosaur Tooth Found in Rare Ancient Squid Fossil
Smithsonian.com has a story about a unique fossil find. About 150 million years ago, there was a hungry pterosaur looking for a meal. It saw an appetizing cephalopod and went for it. Unfortunately, we don’t know if it ate that day, but we do know that this particular bit of calamari got away. The fossil…
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Palaecast Episode 105: Ferrodraco
There’s a new episode of Palaeocast. This one is about the new Australian pterosaur, Ferrodraco lentoni, which was recently described in a paper that appeared in Scientific Reports. Discovered in the Winton area of central western Queensland, it had a wingspan of about 4 meters (13 feet). This animal lived about 96 million years ago,…
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LiveScience: Meet ‘Cold Dragon of the North Winds,’ the Giant Pterosaur That Once Soared Across Canadian Skies
Live Science has a story about a new giant pterosaur. The animal, Cryodrakon boreas (cold dragon of the north winds), was discovered in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada. It is thought to have lived between 77 million to 74 million years ago. The bones were originally found decades ago and were thought to be…
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ScienceAlert: A Fossil of a Ginormous Flying Reptile Has Just Been Discovered in Australia
Science Alert has a story about a huge pterosaur discovery in Australia. Pterosaurs seem to be in the news lately and this one is called “Iron Dragon”, Ferrodraco lentoni. Discovered in the Winton area of central western Queensland, it had a wingspan of about 4 meters (13 feet). This animal lived about 96 million years…
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SciAm: Pterosaurs Were Monsters of the Mesozoic Skies
Scientific American has an article about pterosaurs. It seems that they not the birds, which are dinosaurs, ruled the skies. Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight. They ranged in size from the size of a small plane to the size of a modern sparrow. Many had heads larger than their bodies… they…
