A small dragon-like species of wingless reptile that lived 237 million years ago has been identified as one of the earliest ancestors of pterosaurs in a new study. Similarities between fossils of the so-called lagerpetids, which were wingless but had characteristically long hind-legs, and winged pterosaurs were revealed in CT scans. Although one could fly and the other … Read more
Fossil ‘shark spines’ unearthed in an English phosphate mine a century ago are actually jaw fragments of 100 million-year-old toothless pterosaurs — including an unknown species The fossils were collected in the Fens by Victorian miners and sold for profit They came from a rock formation that dates back to the early Cenomanian The palaeontologists … Read more
A turkey-sized species of pterosaur has been discovered with a bizarre beak similar to that of the modern-day kiwi. Dubbed Leptostomia begaaensis, it used its long and skinny beak to probe dirt and find hidden prey. The discovery of the new species comes courtesy of fresh research which looked at what was previously assumed to be … Read more
Chinese pterodactyl wings its way to the UK: Fossil of a toothless pterosaur commonly found in China and Brazil is discovered on the Isle of Wight The specimen was found by a dog walker in Sandown Bay on the island’s coast University of Portsmouth palaeontologists identified it as a toothless jawbone The fossil — ‘Wightia … Read more