Record breaking Jurassic Pterosaur
Many discoveries are still being made in the world of paleontology. Things like new species, classifications, and evolutionary implications are still being determined to this day. Specifically, in Oxfordshire England, a group of scientists discovered a specimen identified as a pterosaur (2). Pterosaurs are known as the first animals to evolve flight after insects (1). They have characteristic traits like long slender wings, long jaws and fine bristle-like teeth (2). The researchers found that the pterosaur sample has a wingspan of approximately 3.75 meters long, making it nearly double the average pterosaur wingspan in the Jurassic period. This specimen is one of the first of this type of pterosaur ever found in the U.K (2). This discovery has changed the way researchers think about pterosaur size in the Jurassic period. It is hypothesized that shortly after their appearance in the mid-Jurassic, they immediately achieved large sizes that are observed in their dominant era in the Cretaceous (2). This new pterosaur sample helps to clarify the size of these dinosaurs during their inception as a species making it a fascinating addition to the known evolutionary history of dinosaurs.
American Museum of Natural History. (2014). What is a Pterosaur? Dinosaur Cousins Took Flight | AMNH. American Museum of Natural History. https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/pterosaurs-flight-in-the-age-of-dinosaurs/what-is-a-pterosaur
ScienceDaily. (2024). Gigantic Jurassic pterosaur fossil unearthed in Oxfordshire, UK. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240604132049.htm