New species of 200M-year-old flying reptile discovered: Study

By Asiye Latife Yilmaz

ISTANBUL (AA) – Scientists in the US have identified a new species of pterosaur, a flying reptile from over 200 million years ago and among the first vertebrates capable of powered flight, according to research published on Monday.

Researchers from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History used modern scanning techniques to examine a fossilized jawbone unearthed in the US state of Arizona in 2011, revealing it belongs to a previously unknown species.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, said the new species is named Eotephradactylus mcintireae, meaning “ash-winged dawn goddess,” in reference to the volcanic ash layer that preserved its bones and its early position in the ancient riverbed where it was found.

The discovery was made in a fossil bed within ancient rock formations of Petrified Forest National Park, which over 200 million years ago was a riverbed where sediment layers gradually preserved bones, scales, and other traces of prehistoric life.

Researchers said the identification of pterosaur bones in these ancient river deposits indicates that similar Triassic rock formations worldwide may also contain preserved pterosaur fossils.

At approximately 209 million years old, the species is now considered the earliest pterosaur discovered in North America.

Although pterosaurs coexisted with dinosaurs, pterosaurs are not classified as dinosaurs but belong to a separate evolutionary group.