Fossil Came From Big, Toothy Flyer
Scientists in the UK have identified a little fossil that came from a very big flying reptile.
The fossil was a wee fragment of beak, including a tooth, 13 millimeters in diameter. Half an inch isn’t the tiniest of teeth, but when you consider the dimensions of the beast it came from, the tooth pales in comparison.
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| A toothy pterosaur of the Coloborhynchus genus. Illustration: Mark Witton, University of Portsmouth, www.markwitton.com. |
The scientists, from the University of Portsmouth and the University of Leicester, identified the fossil’s source as a pterosaur (specifically Coloborhynchus capito), and using the toothy clue estimated the pterosaur’s skull to have been about three quarters of a meter in length. Even more impressive, the wingspan estimate was 7 meters.
To the less metric-inclined, that’s about 23 feet, a spread surpassing two stories. When Coloborhynchus capito would glide over the water in search of fish, his wingspan was more than twice that of today’s wingspan record holder, the wandering albatross.
Before the cryptozoologists of the world get too excited about finding the fabled thunderbird, they should look at when this pterosaur was estimated to have thrived. As redOrbit reports, these guys took to the skies 210-65 million years ago.
It’s also worth noting that these were not the biggest pterosaurs. Toothless flyers could reach a wingspan of 10 meters. That's about a sixth of a Boeing 747 wingspan.
You can check out the study’s abstract in Cretaceous Research online and for more flighty dino news check out Audubon’s blog post on proto-feathers of the late Cretaceous.
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| An artist's rendition of a pterosaur. Illustration: John Conway, from the English Wikipedia |
Once upon a time there was a
Once upon a time there was a reader
Wondrin' when to set up her squirrelproof feeder
Looked at her blogroll, did a search,
Shouted, "Oh, good a new post from 'The Perch'!"
Looked at the new post what'd she see?
A giant Coloborhynchus over the sea!
Excited but confused, she dropped a log,
"What's a pterosaur doing in a dinosaur blog?"
Love this lol, I wonder if
Love this lol, I wonder if all posts on this website are like this. Will skimm throu it.
Muay Thai
To Babbletrish: We thank
To Babbletrish:
We thank you for the wonderful verse!
As pterosaurs were among the first
To take to skies and soar among birds,
We thought we'd post a few newsy words.
(sadly, this blogger is no poet. But thanks all the same and you're right, it's a little unusual, but it's always fun to learn about nature's flyers... even those long-extinct.)
To Cindy: Yes, that is a new picture-- by illustrator Mark Witton, whose permission was requested to include his Coloborhynchus.
-Daisy Yuhas
This seems continentally
This seems continentally relevant to the first half of the creature's name and adorably relevant to the vicious predatory instinct of the second half of the creature's name.
enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8zlUUrFK-M
If you have a soul and even
If you have a soul and even a passing interest in birds, dinosaurs, pseudo-science and/or superb music - you will enjoy this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8zlUUrFK-M
I enjoy my airstream most
I enjoy my airstream most during the day.I always wanted one...since I was a kid and besides... for esthetics, there really isn't any other option.
la quisiera saber si es que
la quisiera saber si es que hay un modo de inscribirse para dicha conferencia o el acceso se realiza en ese día nomás? desde ya muchas gracias..
Oh my god. That is really
Oh my god. That is really big. Another proof that Dinosaur really existed in past.
Thanks for this review! Very
Thanks for this review! Very informative article. Thanks a lot for enjoying this beautiful article with me.
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