Fictional and Fatal Jurassic Park There is nothing at the actual Dinosaur Cove in the southern tip of Victoria, Australia. A team of paleontologists used bones from a fossil-filled hotspot to show that pterosaurs (more commonly known as pterodactyls) flew through the skies of Australia 107 million years ago. It was confirmed. Their findings are detailed in the following material. The study was published in the journal May 31 historical biology.
[Related: This pterosaur ancestor was a tiny, flightless dog-like dinosaur.]
The research team examined two prehistoric bones extracted from Dinosaur Cove more than 30 years ago. The bones, from two different pterosaur species, were examined by experts from Curtin University in Perth and the Victoria Museum in Melbourne. Partial pelvic bones were from pterosaurs with wingspans greater than 6.5 feet, and smaller wing bones were from juvenile pterosaurs. These bones turned out to be the oldest fossils of a giant winged reptile ever found in Australia, known for fossils of larger sauropods.
Pterosaurs, closely related to dinosaurs, flew in the Mesozoic Era about 252 million years ago.
“During the Cretaceous period (145-66 million years ago), Australia was farther south than it is today, Victoria was in the Polar Circle and was shrouded in darkness for weeks during winter. It’s clear that pterosaurs have found a way to survive and thrive in spite of these seasonally harsh conditions,” said study co-author and Curtin University PhD student Adele Pentland. . said in a statement.
According to Pentland, pterosaur fossils are a rare find in the world. Even fewer sites have been found in areas that were once high paleolatitudes, including Victoria.she told CNN Since the 1980s, less than 25 sets of four species of pterosaur fossils have been found in Australia, compared to more than 100 sets in countries such as Argentina and Brazil.
“Thus, these bones give us a better idea of where the pterosaurs lived and how big they were. By analyzing these bones, we can say that they were about 107 million years old.” We were also able to confirm the presence of the first-ever juvenile Australian pterosaur that previously lived in the Victorian forest.” Pentland said.
[Related: The biggest animal ever to fly was a reptile with a giraffe-like neck.]
The specimen was discovered by a Dinosaur Cove expedition in the 1980s. Paleontologists Tom Rich and Pat Vickers Rich. The discovery of large-eyed dinosaurs along this coastline contributed to the discovery of large-scale dinosaurs. Changes in popular perceptions of dinosaurs.these are “Dark Dinosaur” It gave paleontologists a glimpse of survival without sunlight and reframed the question of whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded.
“These two fossils are the result of ten years of hard work by over 100 volunteers,” says Tom Rich. said in a statementt. “That effort involved drilling over 60 meters.” [196 feet] A view of the tunnel where two fossils were found in the seaside cliffs of Dinosaur Cove. ”
Here are the largest pterosaurs that scientists have ever known: Quetzalcoatlus Northropiwas found in Texas. Everything is big in Texas, so this pterosaur had a wingspan of about 32 to 36 feet. Australia’s largest pterosaur Tapungaka Shawi. Discovered in 2021 by a team from the University of Queensland, it boasts a wingspan of about 22 feet.