Tag Archives: prey

Ancient Penguins May Have Used Sharp Beaks to Impale Their Prey

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Following the Cretaceous Mass Extinction, ancient penguin relatives rapidly diversified

Mark P. Witton/Science Photo Library

Four newly discovered fossil species in New Zealand demonstrate the significant diversity of early penguins, characterized by their long, dagger-like beaks for catching prey.

The latest findings provide “an unexpected insight into the early evolution of penguins,” states Gerald Mayle at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Germany.

The fossils were unearthed from the Waipara Greensand Formation in Canterbury, New Zealand, a region recognized for flourishing after the mass extinction that eradicated non-avian dinosaurs, preserving some of the early avian species that diversified.

“A notable aspect of ancient New Zealand is the lack of terrestrial predators, which enabled early penguins to lose their ability to fly,” explains Mayle. This absence of predators might also clarify why certain early penguins reached sizes as large as humans, he remarks.

In total, Mayr and colleagues detailed four new species, showcasing a remarkable variety of shapes and sizes. Many fossils reveal previously unknown skeletal characteristics; one specimen boasted an exceptionally long back toe, along with an incredibly intact skull and beak.

“Fossils with beaks that provide insight into avian diets are exceedingly rare among penguins from earlier epochs [23 million years ago],” says Tatsuro Ando, who was not part of the study at the Japanese Paleontology Museum.

Present-day penguins feature varied beak shapes tailored to their specific prey, which can include krill and small fish, as well as invertebrates like squid, Ando explains. While these beaks can be short, thick, or curved, they do not compare to those seen in early penguins.

“It appears that ancient penguins utilized their long beaks to grasp their prey,” says Mayle. After impaling the fish, they likely surfaced to toss it into the air and catch it, he adds.

Over a span of approximately 20 million years, penguins evolved to lose their elongated, slender beaks. This change was likely an adaptation to prolonged underwater periods. As they transitioned to a more aquatic lifestyle, their feeding strategies and beak structures also evolved.

The newfound fossils underscore the significance of New Zealand as a “cradle of penguin evolution,” remarked Mayle, indicating that the earliest penguins diversified and spread globally to regions including New Zealand, Antarctica, South Africa, and South America.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Nocturnal Spiders Employ Captured Fireflies as Luminous Lures to Entice Prey

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Sheet Web Spider Psechrus Clavis is known to utilize the coloration and web of its own body as visual cues to effectively capture and consume insects. Interestingly, it doesn’t immediately eat the male fireflies, referred to as Daifan Lampaloid; instead, these spiders retain them on the web, allowing the fireflies to continue emitting bioluminescent signals for up to an hour. This observation has raised intriguing questions among a research team from Tunghai University, the University of New South Wales, the Sydney Institute of Technology, and the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Taiwan.

Sheet web spider with fireflies caught in the web. Image credit: Tunghai University Spider.

Researcher I-Min TSO and colleagues at Tunghai University documented Psechrus Clavis retaining fireflies on the web while these insects continued to emit bioluminescent light for up to an hour.

They noted that the spiders periodically check for the captured fireflies.

Fascinated by this peculiar behavior, the researchers designed an experiment to see if it serves as a hunting strategy.

The experiment involved placing firefly-like LEDs on the actual sheet spider web, using other webs as controls.

The results indicated that the web with LEDs attracted three times as many prey compared to the control web.

This figure increased to ten times more prey when actual fireflies were visible.

The findings affirm that the presence of captured fireflies enhances the spider’s hunting success.

Researchers also discovered that the majority of captured fireflies are male and likely mistaken for potential mates.

“Our findings underscore the previously unrecognized interaction where Firefly Signals, intended for sexual communication, also benefit spiders,” remarked Dr. TSO.

“This study provides new insights into how sit-and-wait predators can adapt to attract prey, revealing the intricate complexities of predator-prey interactions.”

“This behavior may have evolved in sheet web spiders as a way to avoid the energy costs associated with producing their own bioluminescence, similar to anglerfish.”

“Instead, spiders can leverage the allure of their prey’s glow to attract their own targets.”

Video recordings taken during the experiments show sheet web spiders employing various tactics when interacting with different prey species.

The spider swiftly consumes a moth caught in the web but takes its time with the trapped fireflies.

“The varying treatment of prey suggests that spiders may use specific cues to differentiate between prey species and adjust their responses accordingly,” explained Dr. TSO.

“We hypothesize that the bioluminescent signals of fireflies help spiders to fine-tune their handling behavior towards different types of prey.”

This study was published in Journal of Animal Ecology.

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Ho Yin Yip et al. Visual seduction through bioluminescence of prey seduces waiting predators. Journal of Animal Ecology Published online on August 27th, 2025. doi:10.1111/1365-2656.70102

Source: www.sci.news

Study: Flamingos Utilize Beaks and Flexible Legs to Generate Water Tornadoes for Catching Prey

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A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and Georgia Tech has uncovered that flamingos are not mere passive filter feeders; instead, they are active predators that employ flow-guided traps to catch nimble invertebrates.

Flamingos feed by dragging their flattened beaks forward along the shallow lake bottom. To enhance feeding efficiency, they stomp their feet to stir up the bottom, create swirling vortices with their heads, and repeatedly slap their beaks to catch food like brine shrimp. Image credit: aztli ortega.

“Flamingos are predators actively seeking out moving animals underwater. The challenge they face is how to concentrate these prey items to attract and capture them.”

“Consider how spiders spin webs to catch insects. Flamingos utilize vortices to trap creatures such as brine shrimp.”

Dr. Ortega Zimenez and his team conducted the study using Chilean flamingos (Phoenicopterus chilensis) sourced from the Nashville Zoo, where they were kept in aquariums for several weeks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbkrxu7n6kw

Utilizing high-speed cameras and particle image velocity measurements, the researchers documented and analyzed feeding behaviors, employing flow visualization techniques involving fine food particles and oxygen bubbles.

They discovered that the birds use their floppy, swaying feet to disturb the bottom sediment and propel themselves forward in a swirling motion. Additionally, the flamingos convulse their heads upward like plungers while creating mini-tornados to draw food from the water’s surface.

As the birds keep their heads inverted in a watery vortex, their angled beaks create small vortices that direct sediment and food into their mouths, enhancing their feeding efficiency.

The unique structure of the flamingo’s beak, with its flattened shape and angled front, enables a technique known as skimming. This involves the bird extending its long, S-shaped neck to push its head forward while rapidly beating its beak, generating a sheet-like vortex (von Karman vortex) that captures prey.

“These complex active feeding behaviors challenge the long-held belief that flamingos are merely passive filter feeders,” noted Dr. Ortega Zimenez.

“While they may appear to be filtering only passive particles, these birds are actively preying on moving organisms.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdziufdf3ka

The authors also applied computational fluid dynamics to simulate the 3D flow around the beak and feet of the flamingos.

They confirmed that the vortices indeed concentrate particles, similar to experiments that used a 3D printhead with aggressively swimming shrimp and passively floating brine shrimp eggs.

“We observed that when we placed 3D printed models in the water to replicate skimming, they generated symmetrical vortices along the sides of the beak, cycling particles in the water effectively,” Dr. Ortega Zimenez shared.

The team’s findings will be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Victor M. Ortega Zimenez et al. 2025. Flamingos use their L-shaped beak and morphing legs to induce vortex traps for prey capture. pnas 122 (21): E2503495122; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2503495122

Source: www.sci.news

Video: Flamingo Creates a Vortex with Its Beak to Capture Prey

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Witnessing how flamingos feed is truly a captivating experience. They tilt their heads in the water and perform a charming waddling dance, sifting through small crustaceans, insects, microscopic algae, and other minute aquatic morsels in shallow waters.

Victor Ortega Zimenez, a biologist from the University of California, Berkeley, recalls being captivated by this behavior in 2019 during a family visit to the Atlanta Zoo. Since then, he has pondered what transpires beneath the water’s surface.

“While the birds were stunning to observe, my main question was, ‘What hydrodynamic principles guide the filter feeding behavior in flamingos?'” he shared.

Upon returning home, he was struck by the lack of scientific literature on the subject, prompting him to embark on his own research journey. After years of careful investigation, he and his team made remarkable discoveries, detailed in a recent publication by the National Academy of Sciences. They revealed that flamingos actively use the physics of water flow to sweep up prey and direct it into their mouths.

“We’re disputing the common notion that flamingos are merely passive filter feeders,” Dr. Ortega Zimenez stated. “Just as spiders create webs, flamingos generate vortices.”

Dr. Ortega Zimenez collaborated with three extraordinarily supportive flamingos from the Nashville Zoo: Matty, Marty, and Cayenne. Zookeepers trained these birds to feed in transparent containers, allowing researchers to capture their feeding behaviors using high-speed cameras and fluid dynamics techniques. The team introduced oxygen bubbles and food particles to visualize the water flow facilitated by the birds. After observing live flamingos, they constructed a 3D model of a flamingo’s head to further investigate its biomechanics.

The researchers found that flamingos frequently and quickly retracted their heads while feeding. Each movement generated tornado-like vortices, drawing particles from the bottom to the water’s surface. Additional experiments with mechanical beaks revealed that flamingos rapidly pound their beaks while partially submerged, directing the flow of water straight to their mouths and aiding in prey capture. Their uniquely shaped L-shaped beaks played a crucial role in creating vortices and recirculating water. They utilized the surface layer for feeding, reaping the benefits of their specialized feeding techniques.

Another “surprising discovery” involved the flamingos’ feet, as Dr. Ortega Zimenez noted. Researchers explored this through mechanical models of flamingo feet and computational simulations. The dance-like movements underwater contributed to the vortices, propelling additional particles toward the waiting mouths of the birds, which feed upside down in the water. Collectively, these findings indicate that flamingos are “superfeeding machines,” employing their entire bodies in the feeding process.

Biophysicist Sunghwan Jung from Cornell University commended the study for showcasing how biological morphology and motion interact functionally with surrounding fluids.

Alejandro Rico Gevala, an evolutionary biologist at Washington University in Seattle, who was not involved in the research, also concurred, stating that the new findings challenge the idea of flamingos as merely passive filter feeders. “Numerous hypotheses have attempted to explain how their peculiar bills function,” he remarked.

In addition to elucidating that mystery, the study reveals “a distinctly evolved method for capturing elusive small prey,” he added. This research hints at another possible evolutionary purpose for the birds’ webbed feet, beyond simply functioning as paddles.

Dr. Ortega Zimenez, fueled by curiosity about the dynamics of water flow used by flamingos, is now planning to investigate what occurs within the bird’s beak during feeding. Ultimately, such discoveries may lead to bioinspired technologies aimed at addressing issues like toxic algae and microplastics, he said.

“What is the essence of filter feeding in flamingos?” he questioned. “As scientists, we aspire to understand both the shape and function of these fascinating and enigmatic birds.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

The New “Bone Collector” Caterpillar Adorns Itself with the Remains of Its Prey.

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A newly identified species of caterpillar has been found climbing the spider webs on Oahu, Hawaii, presenting an unprecedented sight for scientists.

This caterpillar not only thrives in a peculiar and precarious environment but also resides in tree hollows, rock crevices, and within the nets of curled logs. Interestingly, it is carnivorous and uses parts of its prey as camouflage after consuming them.

This unusual insect, recognized by researchers, is a rare outlier in the insect kingdom. Out of roughly 200,000 known species of moths and butterflies, only about 0.1% are carnivorous.

“Carthymen are extremely uncommon among caterpillars,” stated Professor Adam Hart, an ecologist, conservation scientist, and entomologist at the University of Gloucestershire who was not part of the study, as reported by BBC Science Focus. “In fact, it’s only found in Hawaiian species groups.”

Bone collector caterpillars share webs with spiders and consume their prey. -Rubinoff Lab, Entomology Section, University of Hawaii, Manoa

This newly discovered species is adept at scavenging. It consumes weak or deceased insects that become ensnared in spider webs and can even chew through silk to access its food source if needed.

Dragging a silk case (the protective outer layer before transforming into a moth), it accumulates adhesive threads, exoskeletons, and insect limbs, creating a creepy yet effective disguise.

Researchers uncovered body parts from over six different insect species attached to these caterpillars. This is not a random assortment but a carefully curated collection.

“Before caterpillars weave their collection, the body parts are meticulously sized,” explained the authors of the published study in Science.

The parts are arranged optimally, with oversized pieces being bitten down to size before being incorporated, resulting in a creepy yet intentional suit of armor fashioned from the remains of their prey.

“Many caterpillars possess incredible camouflage, typically integrated into their form and behavior,” Hart noted. “It’s rare for them to utilize their environment as camouflage in this manner, but it’s not unheard of in moths; for instance, bagworms use environmental materials to construct their cases.”

To further explore this species, researchers raised some caterpillars in captivity, where they soon observed another unsettling behavior: cannibalism. The solitary nature of these caterpillars in the wild may explain their isolation, as only one is found per web.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6jjsdqeke8

Large bone collector caterpillars share smaller specimens in captivity.

The researchers also tested whether bone collectors would use other types of debris for decoration, finding they only decorated with insect remnants.

Despite its peculiar lifestyle, this species has existed for a lengthy period, potentially six million years, which is more than twice the age of Oahu itself.

However, its current range is limited to just 15km² (5.8 square miles) and is at significant risk of extinction. Without immediate conservation efforts, researchers warn that “the last living representative of this lineage of carnivorous, body-adorned caterpillars will vanish, adapted to the precarious existence within spider webs.”

“There are countless extraordinary invertebrates out there, with much more yet to be discovered,” Hart remarked. “Moth caterpillars disguised as the remains of insect prey, living predatory lives on spider webs, is certainly one of the strangest and most fascinating things I’ve heard in quite a while.”

About our experts

Adam Hart is an entomologist and professor of science communication at the University of Gloucestershire. Besides his research and educational efforts, he frequently appears on BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service, participating in documentaries on various topics from trophy hunting to tree diseases. He also hosts a weekly science program, Science Behaviour for BBC World Services. On television, Adam has co-presented several documentary series, including BBC Four’s Planet Ant and BBC Two’s Living Hive.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Researchers have identified the invertebrate prey of the impressive reelbird “farm”

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Amazing lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae), a species closely attached to the ground of a wet, moist eucalyptus forest in southeastern Australia, engineer microhabitat fattens its prey, worms, centipedes, spiders and more with its host before returning to the East Feast later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovteokvs5zw

“Superrier birds are large ground-dwelling passers-inhabiting the wet forests of eastern Australia, and are renowned for their imitation and incredible courtship displays,” said a researcher at Latovo University. Alex Maizie And a colleague.

“During nutrition, aging populations replace vast amounts of garbage and soil during foraging.”

“The reelbird spits out the litter from its leaves and digs into the soil, creating a fine mosaic of exposed soil and foraging herds within the leaf matrix.”

“Depending on the long-term lyrebird activity, reduced soil compaction and increased litter and soil aeration and infiltration can benefit macroinvertebrates.”

“This presents a mechanism that allows lyrebirds engineering activities to create a feedback loop and essentially “farm” prey. ”

Maisey et al. We looked into whether this engineering activity by the amazing lyrebirds is (Menura novaehollandiae) It helps to promote the “agricultural” effect on prey by increasing biomass and taxonomic abundance of biomass and invertebrate animals and altering the composition of invertebrate communities. Image credits: Alex Maisy, University of Wollongong.

This study was conducted in three forest areas in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. (i) Sherbrooke Forest, part of the Dandenong Mountains National Park. (ii) Yarrarrange National Park. (iii) Britannia Creek catchment in Yarra State Forest.

Researchers surrounded an aging environment from small areas in the forest, creating an environment that does not age.

In some of these areas, the authors raked up leaf trash and soil to simulate highlands.

When racking was performed, there were more types and larger invertebrates than the areas without foraging of simulated lyrebird.

“This type of animal agriculture was essentially rare,” Dr. Maisie said.

“Grey establishes a home that is best for prey, creates conditions with more food resources and effectively fattens them before they are eaten.”

“Through foraging, these birds had a major impact on the plants and animals that lived in forests southeastern Australia.”

“In this project, Reelbirds were measured to move an average of 155 tonnes of garbage and soil per hectare per year while farming invertebrates.”

“They also reduce the strength of wildfires by filling up leaves and branches that burn fuel fires, thereby shaping the entire ecosystem.”

“Rielbirds operate across millions of hectares of forests. Their agricultural behavior plays an important role in maintaining forest biodiversity.”

study It was released this week Journal of Animal Ecology.

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Alex C. Myge et al. Foraging activities by the stunning lyrebird, an ecosystem engineer, “farm” its invertebrate prey. Journal of Animal EcologyPublished online on March 4th, 2025. doi:10.1111/1365-2656.70009

Source: www.sci.news

Research: Teeth of saber-tooth predators proved to be extremely efficient in piercing their prey.

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Saber-toothed tiger predators — such as the famous saber-toothed tiger Smilodon Fatalis — evolved multiple times between different mammalian groups. Their unusual teeth were functionally optimal and highly effective at stabbing prey, a new study led by researchers has found. University of Bristol Paleontologist.

Graphics illustrating optimal functionality repeat the evolution of the extreme sabertooth shape. Image credit: Talia Pollock.

Dr Talia Pollock from the University of Bristol said: “Our research helps us to better understand how extreme adaptations evolve, not just in saber-toothed predators, but throughout nature.” Ta.

“By combining biomechanics and evolutionary theory, we can reveal how natural selection shapes animals to perform specific tasks.”

Dr. Pollock and his colleagues used 3D-printed steel tooth replicas in a series of occlusal experiments and advanced computer simulations to analyze the shape and performance of teeth in 95 different carnivorous mammal species, including 25 saber-toothed species. .

They discovered that the long, sharp, blade-like teeth gave the sabertooth a real advantage as a specialized weapon for capturing prey.

This discovery helps explain why saber teeth have evolved so many times, at least five times independently in mammals, and also explains the possible eventual demise of saber teeth. There are also things.

Their increased specialization may have acted as an evolutionary ratchet, making them highly effective hunters, but would put them at greater risk of extinction as ecosystems change and prey becomes scarce.

Another important finding challenges the conventional idea that saber-toothed predators fall into two categories: dark-toothed and scimitar-toothed.

Instead, researchers found a variety of saber-tooth shapes ranging from long, curved teeth. barborofelis fricky For straighter and stronger teeth Dinofelis Barlowi.

This adds to a growing body of research suggesting that the hunting strategies of these predators are more diverse than previously thought.

The research team now plans to expand their analysis to all tooth types and uncover the biomechanical tradeoffs that have shaped the evolution of diverse tooth structures across the animal kingdom.

Professor Alistair Evans from Monash University said: “This discovery not only deepens our understanding of saber-toothed predators, but also has far-reaching implications for evolutionary biology and biomechanics.”

“Insights from this study could also help inform bio-inspired designs in engineering.”

The result is today journal current biology.

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Talia Pollock others. 2025. Functional optimality underpins the repeated evolution of extreme “sword-tooth” morphology. current biologyin press.

Source: www.sci.news

Colombia Unearths Fossil of Enormous Bird of Prey

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Paleontologists have unearthed and examined the fossilized foot bones of a Phorsulaceae bird that lived in South America 12 million years ago.

model of parafisolnis At the Vienna Natural History Museum. Image credit: Armin Reindl / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Terrorbird is a member of Forsulaceae a family of large carnivorous flightless birds in the order Calliamales.

These extinct birds were very large, weighing up to 70 kg and measuring 0.9 to 2 m (3 to 6.6 ft) in height.

They had slender bodies and unique motor adaptations for moving around.

Their huge beaks and mechanical adaptations of the skull suggest that they were efficient predators.

They lived in South America during the Cenozoic era, but are also known from the Pliocene-Pleistocene of North America and the Eocene of Africa.

Phorsuracidae includes nearly 20 species in 14 genera and 5 subfamilies (Brontornithidae, Mesembriornithidae, Patagornithidae, Phorsuracidae, and Psilopterinidae).

The closest living relative is believed to be Selimas, the only survivor of the family. Cariamydae.

Dr. Siobhan Cooke, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said: “Fearbirds lived on the ground, had limbs adapted for running, and fed primarily on other animals.”

The end of the left tibiotarsus of a fear bird found in Colombia's Tatacoa Desert. Image credit: Degrange others., doi: 10.1002/spp2.1601.

In the 2000s, fossilized leg bones of the feared bird were discovered in the fossil-rich area. Tatacoa desert In Colombia.

The fossil dates back to the Miocene epoch, about 12 million years ago, and is thought to be the northernmost evidence of a fear bird in South America to date.

“The size of the bones indicates that this fearsome bird may be the largest species identified to date, approximately 5-20% larger than any known Phorsulaceae.” said Dr. Cook.

“Previously discovered fossils indicate that the size of the feared bird species ranged from 0.9 to 2.7 meters (3 to 9 feet) tall.”

The fossil probably has tooth marks, such as: Purusaurusan extinct species of caiman thought to have been up to 9 meters (30 feet) long.

“Given the size of the crocodile 12 million years ago, we believe this fearsome bird may have died from its injuries,” Dr Cook said.

This fearsome bird also coexisted with primates, ungulate mammals, giant sloths, and glyptodonts, car-sized relatives of armadillos.

“This is a different kind of ecosystem than what we see today and what we saw in other parts of the world in the era before South and North America connected,” Dr. Cook said.

team's paper be published in a magazine paleontology papers.

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Federico Javier Desgrange others. 2024. A new species of gigantic fear bird (Caryamiformes, Phorsulaceae) from the mid-Miocene tropical environment of La Venta, northern South America. paleontology papers 10 (6): e1601;doi: 10.1002/spp2.1601

Source: www.sci.news

Fireflies used as bait by spiders to attract more prey

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A spider engulfs its shiny prey

New Hua Fu

Once the spider has captured a male firefly in its web, it turns the dead insect into food and uses its beacon light to lure in more prey.

New Hua Fu Researchers at China’s Huazhong Agricultural University found that male fireflies (Abscondita terminalis), but females of this species often get caught in the webs of orb-weaver spiders (Giant IsopodHe and his colleagues discovered that the spiders were using the flashing signals to lure the insects into their traps, and they wondered if this was what was luring them. Both males and females of this firefly species use flashing signals to court, with the females’ light shows drawing males to their location. So he and his colleagues investigated how the spiders were using this display of affection.

In farmland in China’s Hubei province, the team conducted a series of experiments on 161 different nests, some with spiders and some without. In each nest, the researchers placed male fireflies, some of which had painted the light areas of their abdomens black with ink. They found that nests that contained both spiders and free-flying fireflies attracted more male fireflies than nests without spiders or nests with only non-flying fireflies.

Also, the male fireflies that were tangled in spider webs emitted a different flash than normal — it was more like a female’s flash, emitting one flash instead of two — but the fireflies that were tangled in spider webs emitted normal flashes.

This suggests that the spiders manipulate the male firefly’s signals to mimic those of females and attract other males looking to mate, the team said. Lee Dae Geum The Hubei University researchers say they don’t yet know exactly how the spiders change the signals of their immobilized prey, but they have some ideas.

“The spider’s venom or the bite itself could lead to changes in the blinking patterns of captive males,” Lee said.

Li is interested to know if other spiders that eat fireflies use a similar strategy: Other animals may use different kinds of signals, such as sound or the release of pheromones, to bait their captured prey, he says.

“[The findings] “Spiders prove once again that they are not passive foragers.” Mariella Herberstein “We are discovering more and more cases of highly complex and selective feeding techniques,” say researchers from Australia’s Macquarie University.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Australian pterosaurs possessed large tongues for consuming prey.

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Illustration of the newly identified species, Haliskia petersenii

Gabriel Ugueto

A 100-million-year-old pterosaur fossil discovered in Australia may have had the largest, most muscular tongue of its kind.

The fossil was discovered in 2021 by Kevin Pietersen, curator at Kronosaurus Corner, a museum near the Queensland outback town of Richmond.

Typically, with a pterosaur, a flying reptile that lived on Earth at the same time as the dinosaurs, you’d find just one bone, Petersen said. “But as we started digging, we started finding more and more bones, and we realized we had to work very carefully,” he said.

Nearly a quarter of the skeleton has been recovered, making it the most complete pterosaur yet discovered by Australian scientists.

The entire lower jaw, part of the upper jaw, vertebrae, ribs, leg and foot bones were preserved, but most surprising was the preservation of an extremely delicate throat bone, just a few millimetres in diameter, which Petersen says reminded him of spaghetti.

Lead team Adele Pentland Researchers from Curtin University in Perth identified the fossil as belonging to an entirely new genus and species of pterosaur in the Anhangeria family, which are found around the world. The creature had an estimated wingspan of 4.6 metres. In Petersen’s honour, the fossil has been named “Anhangeria”. Haliskia petersenii.

Though it wasn’t related to any bird, Petersen said it would have looked a bit like a giant pelican, but Pentland said it would have been a “devil pelican” because of its mouth full of sharp teeth.

What sets it up H. Petersenyi What sets this dinosaur apart from other known pterosaurs is that it had much larger throat bones, indicating it had a huge, muscular tongue, Pentland said.

The team believes that the tongue was used to capture and hold prey, possibly slippery animals such as squid or fish. Once the prey was grasped in the jaws, H. Petersenyi Pentland says the dinosaur’s teeth would have closed like a zipper or cage, preventing escape.

Like pelicans, it likely swallowed its prey whole, she says, and its tongue would have also been used to shove the food down its throat.

In the Cretaceous H. Petersenyi At the time, what is now inland Queensland was covered by sea, which served as hunting grounds for pterosaurs.

“It’s truly breathtaking to look at the remains of these fossil animals and imagine the wealth of life that must have been there at that time and how different it must have been to what we see in outback Queensland today,” Pentland says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com