A new genus and species of pterosaur has been identified from fossils found at the site. Kilmalag Formation Originally from the Isle of Skye, Scotland.
Reconstructed by artists Theoptera evansae. Image credit: Mark Witton / Natural History Museum, London.
Professor Paul Barrett of London's Natural History Museum and colleagues said: “The oldest known pterosaur fossils date from the late Triassic period, but the group persisted until extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period.''
“Pterosaurs are known on every continent and experienced two major peaks in species richness during the Early-Middle Cretaceous and the Late Cretaceous.”
“However, that distribution is highly influenced by the 'Lagerstetten effect' and other forms of sampling bias.”
“Most of our knowledge about the evolutionary history of pterosaurs is based on material from a small number of archaeological sites with limited spatiotemporal extent.”
The newly discovered species lived in what is now Scotland between 168 and 166 million years ago (during the mid-Jurassic period).
named Theoptera evansaeIt was the first pterosaur named in Scotland and the most complete pterosaur discovered in Britain since its discovery by Mary Anning. Dimorphodon Macronix Early 1800s.
The remains of this flying reptile consist of a three-dimensionally preserved partial skeleton, including the shoulders, wings, legs, and part of the spine.
Many of the bones remain fully embedded in the rock and can only be studied using CT scans.
Theoptera evansae, almost as found (top) and with CT reconstruction using the elements (bottom). Image credit: Martin-Silverstone other.
“Theoptera evansae is part of the pterosaur clade Dalwinoptera'' said the paleontologists.
“The discovery shows that this clade is much more diverse than previously thought and persisted for more than 25 million years, from the Late Late Jurassic to the Late Jurassic.”
The discovery also shows that all of the major Jurassic pterosaurs evolved earlier than previously thought, well before the end of the Early Jurassic.
“Theoptera evansae “This helps narrow down the timing of some key events in the evolution of flying reptiles,” said Professor Barrett.
“Most of its relatives are from China, so its appearance in Britain during the mid-Jurassic period was a complete surprise.”
“This shows that the advanced group of flying reptiles to which it belongs appeared earlier than we thought and quickly acquired a near-global distribution.”
“During that period, Theoptera evansae This period is one of the most important in the evolution of pterosaurs, and it is also the period with the lowest number of specimens, demonstrating its importance,” said Dr Liz Martin-Silverstone, a palaeontologist at the University of Bristol. said.
“We found more bones embedded in the rock, some of which were essential to identifying the type of pterosaur.” Theoptera evansae This was an even better discovery than originally thought. ”
“This brings us one step closer to understanding when and where more advanced pterosaurs evolved.”
of the team paper will be published in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
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elizabeth martin silverstone other. 2024. A new pterosaur and the diversification of early flying reptiles from the Middle Jurassic of Skye, Scotland. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontologyin press.
Source: www.sci.news
