Fossilized bones present in Australia have been recognized as a brand new species of flying dinosaur—a “fearsome” predator that lived round 100 million years in the past and had a 15-foot wingspan.
The bones, unearthed in western Queensland by museum creator Kevin Petersen in 2021, have been discovered to belong to a newly recognized species of pterosaur, dubbed Haliskia peterseni, or “Peterson’s phantom of the ocean.”
A analysis group led by Ph.D. pupil Adele Pentland, of Curtin College, Australia, recognized the specimen as a member of the group Ornithocheiromorpha, primarily based on the form of its cranium, association of enamel, and form of the shoulder bone.
Ornithocheiromorpha was a gaggle of pterosaurs identified to have lived all around the world, together with in what’s now England, Brazil, Morocco, China, Spain, and america.
“Cautious preparation by Mr Petersen has supplied the stays of essentially the most full specimen of an [Ornithocheiromorph], and of any pterosaur, found in Australia up to now,” mentioned Pentland.
“With a wingspan of roughly 4.6 meters, Haliskia would have been a fearsome predator round 100 million years in the past when a lot of central western Queensland was underwater,” she added, calling the pterosaur household a bunch of “demonic pelicans,” owing to their massive bucket-like mouths for scooping up fish.
Haliskia peterseni joins a number of marine fossil specimens on show on the Kronosaurus Korner Museum in Queensland, the place Petersen is the curator. Working at a public dig website close to the city of Richmond, Peterson noticed the bones and knew they have been a pterosaur, ABC Information AU experiences.
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“The specimen contains full decrease jaws, 43 enamel, vertebrae, ribs, bones from each wings, and a part of a leg,” mentioned Pentland. “Additionally current are very skinny and delicate throat bones, indicating a muscular tongue, which helped throughout feeding on fish and cephalopods.”
Queensland was a part of the shallow sea talked about earlier, and Pentland mentioned the world the place the pterosaur was discovered is famend for fossil deposits.
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“I’ve by no means seen something prefer it in Australia. In Richmond, actually it’s low effort, excessive reward,” Pentland mentioned.
“I wouldn’t be shocked if somebody digging at these public dig pits exterior of Richmond discovered one thing much more full. I believe it’s solely a matter of time.”
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