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Palaeontology

New prehistoric flying reptile discovered

By T.K. Randall
August 13, 2018 · Comment icon 4 comments

The fossil was remarkably well preserved. Image Credit: YouTube / Brigham Young University
Scientists have revealed the discovery of a new species of giant pterosaur that lived over 200 million years ago.
Unearthed in northeastern Utah, the new species had a wingspan of 1.5 meters, a pelican-like pouch beneath its lower jaw and 112 teeth including razor-sharp fangs protruding from the front of its mouth.

The species has been named Caelestiventus hanseni, which means "heavenly wind".

The fossil also happens to be one of the most complete ever found. Only a small number of pterosaur specimens have ever been found from the Triassic Period and most of them are badly damaged.
The site of its discovery - a desert oasis - would have attracted numerous different species.

"During droughts, large numbers of animals - including pterosaurs, predatory dinosaurs and crocodylomorphs - were drawn to the pond in the middle of the oasis, where they died as water dried up," said palaeontologist Brooks Britt of the Brigham Young University in Utah.

In total, more than 18,000 fossilized bones are thought to have been preserved at the site.



Source: Phys.org | Comments (4)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by GlitterRose 6 years ago
They even believe in dinosaurs at BYU?
Comment icon #2 Posted by Jon the frog 6 years ago
Pretty beast or a scary nightmare ! Hard to imagine if we have found that kind of fossil that we never see one of the Bigfoot..hard to believe these days.
Comment icon #3 Posted by Calibeliever 6 years ago
The church has no "official" position on evolution but it's stance has been confusing over the last century. The prevailing current sentiment seems to be a blending of both creationism and evolution. i.e. God took 4+ billion years to create everything on earth and then 6000 years ago breathed his spirit into Adam, or something similar to that. "It depends who you ask" is usually included in any answer I've gotten. They also believe Joseph Smith had magic stones that allowed him to read cryptic writing on imaginary metal tablets... so, yeah.
Comment icon #4 Posted by DirtyDocMartens 6 years ago
A pterosaur with a wingspan of 1.5m is considered giant? That's surprising.


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