Scientists say they have discovered the largest Jurassic pterosaur in history, with a wingspan of more than 8 feet and a mouth full of sharp teeth.
According to a peer-reviewed journal published in Cell, the dinosaur, Dearc sgiathanach, was found in Isle of Skye, Scotland, in 2017. Its skeleton was embedded in limestone.
Pterosaurs were reptiles and the earliest known animals to evolve for flight. They also are some of the largest flying creatures in history.
"While some of the last-surviving species were the size of airplanes, pterosaurs were long thought to be restricted to small body sizes from their Triassic origins through the Jurassic," the journal said.
This new discovery smashes that thought.
The bones of the pterosaur showed it was young and still growing when it died. It had an estimated wingspan larger than a king-size bed.
“When this thing was living about 170 million years ago, it was the largest animal that had ever flown, at least that we know of,” Steve Brusatte, a co-author of the research from the University of Edinburgh, told The Guardian.
It had been believed pterosaurs were relatively small animals with wingspans of up to 6 feet and were incapable of reaching massive sizes during the Jurassic period, according to the journal.
What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day
'Armless' but deadly:Is dinosaur fossil discovered in Argentina an entirely new species?
One hypothesis is the pterosaurs grew in size to beat out competition from other animals and feathered dinosaurs earlier than thought. They ate a wide variety of animals, insects and fish depending on where they lived, Live Science reported.
Brusatte told The Guardian that birds evolved from dinosaurs during the time this pterosaur was living, and the new discovery challenges the understanding of pterosaurs' history.
“We’ve really dragged back in time the evolution of large pterosaurs,” he said.
Follow reporter Asha Gilbert @Coastalasha. Email: [email protected].
Source link
