Edinburgh
“Century find”: Scientist shows pterosaur fossil of unprecedented proportions
Scientist Natalia Jagielska presents Jurassic-era pterosaur fossil in Edinburgh
© Stewart Attwood / National Museum of Scotland / PA Media / DPA
A dinosaur fossil discovered in Scotland a few years ago turned out to be a find of historical importance. It has now been presented to the public in the “National Museum of Scotland”.
As big as an albatross: The fossil of a pterosaur of previously unknown dimensions from the Jurassic era has been unveiled in the “National Museum of Scotland” in Edinburgh.
Discovered on the Isle of Skye in northwest Scotland in 2017, the pterosaur had a wingspan of more than 2.5 meters and lived around 170 million years ago. His sharp teeth, with which he is also said to have cut up fish, still retained their shiny enamel. So far, only significantly smaller complete skeletons of pterosaurs were known from the Jurassic. Later, in the Cretaceous Age, pterosaurs were as big as today’s fighter jets, the museum said in a statement.
Scientists: Pterosaur quality and conservation ‘extremely rare’
The discovery fills a gap in the evolutionary history of reptiles. “Pterosaurs preserved in this quality are extremely rare and usually reserved for selected rock formations in Brazil and China. And yet a huge, excellently preserved pterosaur emerged from a tidal platform in Scotland,” adds Natalia Jagielska, the scientist in charge of researching the find by the British news agency PA, as summarized by CNN.
It is a hitherto unknown genus that bears the name Dearc sgiathanach received. The current discovery confirms that pterosaurs were very large much earlier in their evolutionary history. A number of amazing discoveries have been made in the Skye area in recent years, including the footprints of a stegosaurus and other dinosaur species. Paleontologists believe it was once a subtropical lagoon and home to a sizeable community of dinosaurs.
The extremely delicate petrified skeleton was a “century find” in Great Britain, enthused the scientist. The fossil has now been added to the collection at the National Museum of Scotland but is said to remain the subject of research.
Swell: CNNDPA