Pterosaur Fossil With 10 Inch Wingspan Discovered

With a wingspan of only 10 inches, this weird fossil is one of the world’s smallest species of flying Pterosaurs.

It was recently discovered in the western part of China’s Liaoning Province, which is believed to have been a forested area during the early Cretaceous Period some 120 million years ago.

This pterosaur was equivalent to the size of a modern blackbird.

“The fossil is very well preserved and it has long sharp bill. It was toothless and its skull was just over 4cm (more than 1-inch) long.” said Wang Xiaolin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Despite its small stature and wingspan, this small toothless reptile may well be the ancestor of gigantic Pterodactyls whose wing tips stretched 20-feet from wingtip to wingtip. This new species has been christened Nemicolopterus crypticus, meaning “hidden flying forest dweller”.

The slight shiver that might be crawling up your back is a reminder that in its own way that this fossil is a connection to all living things, humans included.

(Link)

By MDeeDubroff on 23-01-2009