A giant flying reptile found

The 110-million-year-old fossil, which includes most of one wing and several slender teeth from its over-sized jaws, was found in Niger, in Cretaceous-age rocks that were deposited by ancient rivers (reported by Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News, 19 December 2003).

Nearby, paleontologists unearthed the fossilized remains of the "Super Croc" prehistoric giant Sarcosuchus and those of the fish-eating dinosaur Suchomimus. "We imagine this pterosaur soaring over the water and somehow stalling to snag a fish," University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno said to Discovery News in an interview.

He added that the African species, as yet unnamed, weighed about as much as a small dog, had a hairlike covering on its body, translucent wings, and webbed feet. It also had sharp hand claws on the front edge of the wing, which probably helped it climb when on land. The African pterosaur resembles the Anhanguera, another species discovered previously at the Araripe Basin of northeastern Brazil. Indeed, when the Niger species lived, 110 million years ago, South America and Africa were just beginning to separate.

Living on nearly every continent, pterosaurs first appeared during the Triassic period, approximately 215 million years ago, and thrived for 150 million years before going extinct at the end of the Cretaceous. Ever since fossils of pterosaurs literally, winged lizards, were first discovered in the 1700s and mistaken for marine creatures, there have been problems with their preservation.

The found of the new Pterosaur Species in Africa is really great. It`s difficult to imagine how the world and life was for so many years ago. "Sereno's discovery of a form related to one of the Brazilian pterosaurs is exciting indeed. It is very unusual in Africa to find good pterosaur material, and the discovery of the wing of a specimen allows us to calculate the size. The expedition continue their work hope to find more.

Stein Morten Lund, 7 January 2004

Additional information

Discovery Channel`s website: • Take an interactive dino tour in our online feature. • Read about researchers working in the field featured in our Discovery Quest series.

Click on the link: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20031215/pterosaur.html